Life's gains and pains
by Fifekun
Summary: Blurr's has a partner. Her name's Snow-Lilly and she is not wanting to be apart of a team, she's perfectly happy just being Blurr's partner. Can the lessons of life help her warm up to her new team? Or will Razor-Wind put too much fear in her spark? R&R!
1. Meet the team

_Author's notes_

_I hope you guys enjoy this, I know i'm having a ball trying to write this. There are times I'm trying to find time to work on this, being in College. There is a small request i'd like to make. If you like it, let me know, if you don't like it, let me know. ^^ I would like to know how i'm doing and work on improvements and/ or keep you guys entertained. Please review! _

_Other than that! Sit back and enjoy the story!!_

It's amazing…you'd think after millions of years the little guys would have been long since forgotten about by now. I was only in training camp when the Autobots helped those peewees off of Cybertron through the warp gate they went through.

No one ever saw them again…Not till now…

Not long ago we Autobots and those jerks of Decepticons got a Minicon signal from a planet called….E-Arth….whatever, moving on!

My partner and I have just received word from a veteran that our assistance is needed, I was sure that only my partner would go…but turns out there were orders to let me tag along…

It's scary…going through this warp gate…once we're there…there's no turning back

"…Hey…"

"mm?"

"Are you…sure this is a good idea?"

He looks at me with steady optics. "…Good or bad decision, they're orders…Now common"

Once he steps through the gate I shake…Well… it's now or never…

I take the step in and start a scan…that's an interesting vehicle! I land, and I notice that my partner has already done the same…

"Transform! Wait up!" My tires squeal, trying to keep up with this show-off.

Once we get to our destination, I notice my partner transforms and motions me to get behind cover. As I transform and do as he says I pause. Below us is the Autobot team in confrontation with those sleazy cons. One of them with a huge optic and a normal optic has a Minicon panel and is waving it around.

"How arrogant" I mutter.

"Arrogance and Pride…a tragic combination" My partner mutters, aiming with his sharpshooting rifle. "They tend to cause a bot to make mistakes…like this…"

BAM!

******

"Who's the new guy?"

"A Decepticon?"

"That's Blurr, and he's a bit of a hot dog"

"So that's who it is"

The bot known as Blurr transformed it mid air, and caught the Minicon panel with style. The car behind him rode up and transformed next to him, wobbling a bit to gain her bearings.

"Is that a femme?" The orange bot known as Smokescreen blinked his optics as the girl bot watched as the Minicon panel activated in the palm of her partner's hand. It ended up being a blue little racecar Minicon, who landed on Blurr's shoulder, choosing his Autobot.

"That?...Ah…That is Snow-Lilly. She's a recent graduate, newbie lieutenant, and Blurr's partner. She's here as back up." Scavenger looked towards Smokescreen. "She's still got Rookie Spunk"

"A Rookie? Why would a rookie be on earth?"

"Good question, Hotshot" Scavenger muttered.

Hotshot paused and cleared his throat slightly.

Optimus looked up and smiled behind his faceplate. "Good job Blurr, Snow-Lilly. You've saved a Minicon from Decepticon control" he praised. Blurr landed on the ground and looked to the side, optic narrowing. Who did this Minicon think he was? He shoulder was NOT a chair. Reaching for the Minicon, he attempted to get him off.

"Mind telling me what I'm supposed to be doing with this Minicon?" Blurr growled lowly.

Snow-Lilly looked up from studying her purple armor glimmer from the hot sun and looked towards the sniper. A small smile came to her face. "He's so cute" she said softly.

Optimus looked to the mech, who didn't seem thrilled about this Minicon. "He says his name is Incinerator." The Autobot leader nodded to the Minicon. "And he's chosen you as his partner"

"Already got one" Blur growled lowly, frowning behind his own mask. "And it's a pain as it is"

Hotshot walked over and gave a warm smile to the new comrades. It would be good to have more reinforcement from those jerks of cons. Now they over powered them for sure! "How's it goin'?" he asked, offering his hand for a shake.

Snow-Lilly looked towards the bot, But Blurr took no interest in him. Seeing the offered hand, the femme began to reach for it shyly. The yellow bot flashed a grin at her. "I'm Hotsh-"

His greeting was cut off when Blurr grabbed Snow-Lilly's wrist and took her with him to meet Scavenger. The femme gasped with some surprise, but she submitted and followed his lead. Scavenger watched them approach and looked pointedly at Blurr.

"You've raised your skills" he commented the sniper.

"I'm _flattered_ you noticed" Blurr said sarcastically at the instructor. Snow-Lilly watched the conversation and then looked around…she was surrounded by mechs yet again…Oh when would it end? Snow-Lilly paused, noticing the gaze of Optimus seemed to be on Blurr and herself. Slowly the purple femme tried to make herself smaller and hid as best as she could behind Blurr.

Why is he staring at me…surely in the three cycles that I've been here I haven't done anything wrong…

"Alright Autobots" Optimus nodded towards his troops. "Back to base"

*****

Warping is weird feeling…it's like being at two places at once while your body feels like it's going to pieces…a rush of everything is around you…you can literally see yourself and the two places you're at.

Why Am I in this mess? Couldn't I have just stayed at Cybertron?

*****

"Nice goin!"  
"Good job"

"So where are they?"

Snow-Lilly's thoughts were interrupted by the voices of unknown sources. Who was speaking? The femme's optics looked around. There was no one there but the team, now at the Autobot base. It seemed dark in the room except for the actual gate itself…huh?

The purple femme blinked and looked down at a set of ten eyes staring directly at her…She tensed and snuck behind Blurr slightly. What were those things?

"Kids meet our new team-mates" Optimus announced to the creatures. "I'm sure you were watching on the monitors and saw that save. Their names are Blurr and Snow-Lilly."

Kids? They were smaller than Sparklings!! Snow-Lilly looked to Blurr lightly. "You think they bite?" she murmured lightly. No sooner had she asked that question, one of the creatures had approached and all were either introducing themselves or praising Blurr for the stunt he had pulled earlier.

Snow-Lilly had to admit… these things were cute.

"The humans are our friends" Optimus' voice interrupted Snow's thoughts. The femme looked to the leader hesitantly. Humans? Is that what they were called?

"They're our good friends" he continued," and have been very valuable to us"

Snow-Lilly looked from Optimus to the kids and a small smile came to her face. "They have spunk" she said softly. "They're so cute, aren't they B-" her words were cut off as Blurr turned and walked away, with little to no interest to what the femme had just said.

Snow-Lilly paused for a second and stood up quickly upon the realization that her partner was leaving the room. She was NOT going to be left alone. She gave a quick glance to the kids. "N-Nice to meet yah" She said softly, then quickly ran to catch up with Blurr.

Both the group of kids and the Autobots were left standing, watching the duo leave into the depths of the base. That was the briefest meeting ever to happen…

"…Well that's done and over with. Hotshot, your late for training" Scavenger looked to the young bot with anticipation. Hotshot looked over quickly. "Huh?! But you're not even in the training area either!"

"Rule 1, Be in the room before the teacher, or else you're late" Scavenger crossed his arms.

"Oh for crying out loud" Hotshot turned and ran to the training room quickly.

*****

"You idiot! How could you have lost it?! If I find out that Minicon was the last to form the Sky boom shield, then you will NEVER set foot in my base again!" Megatron growled to his most loyal soldier, aiming the sword known as the Star Saber just inches away from Demolisher's throat.

"P-please Megatron don't banish me!" Demolisher begged, trying his best to keep his cool by adding some sugar of his own. "I'll make it up to you somehow; I mean I'm your most dedicated servant! Never questioning your authority, and never intentionally doing anything to harm you, sir"

"Yeah…Intentionally" A voice chuckled lowly from outside of ranks.

The Decepticons were quick to respond with idiot looks and readying their weapons. "Who's there?" Sideways asked, preparing his rifle.

"We don't take to intruders nicely" Starscream growled.

"Yeah, but if you're here for shooting practice, we'll be happy to oblige! HAHAHA!!" Cyclonus laughed insanely.

"Funny, I was thinking the same thing about you, Psycho-bot" The voice came.

Megatron narrowed his optics as a figure walked in, out from the shadows of the base. A mech stood there, his dark paint job doing him well for blending in with the dark. He had a large gun attached to his arm, and the edges of his armor were sharp and ready for combat. A Decepticon insignia was shown on the left side of his chest, practically glaring.

"Identify yourself" Megatron growled. "I'm not someone you want to toy with"

"I'm sure" The mech frowned lightly. "I'm only one of the many Decepticon soldiers that you don't know exist." He took a step up, noting the weapons drawn and aimed at him. "My name is Razor-Wind, and I'm not going to stay in waiting line, while you're in the middle of the heat." He narrowed his optics and took out two medium sized sharp blades and hit them against each other. "No…I intend on having my share."

Megatron scoffed. He had to admit he liked this Mech's spunk, And leaving without leave was very much Decepticon-like. Yet he was in no need of another rouge. "Is that so? What makes you think that I'll just let you walk in here and let you join my team?"

"I'll tell you this. If there are not Autobots hurting and a stupid Minicon in your hands in the next solar-cycle, then far be it from me to even show my face." Razor-wind sharpened his blades together. "Besides…I've heard all about the fiercest Decepticons of the team"

Razor-wind took a second to glance at each one of the Decepticons and his gaze rested on Sideways. "But there's even some that I've never heard of in my carrier of crime."

Sideways' optics glared at the mech eyeing him and he shifted a slight bit. The stare of a Decepticon that was making a point, particularly about him, wasn't exactly the most welcome of moments. Don't put your nose were it shouldn't be, Decepticon….

Megatron watched the soldier in front of him and put a hand up ever so slightly. "Men, put away your weapons." He muttered. A slow smirk came to his face. "So…you're wanting to prove yourself, are you Solider?" His grin got slyer. "We'll soon see if your even worthy enough to call yourself a Decepticon, Razor-Wind."

*****

Blurr sat alone, watching Incinerator conversing with the street action team. They seemed to be having a good conversation, as though they were discussing the ropes and rules of the base. That would make sense to him. He was a strict officer, and In this war, there was nothing to be had but serious moments, training, combat and maybe a little recharge.

Things were different at this base than back on Cybertron. It seemed a lot of people were relaxed here. Maybe the good security made them feel safe for a while against those wretched cons…

Blurr looked up slightly, seeing Snow-Lilly walk up to him, offering him an energon cube. Without a thank you, the Mech took the cube and had himself a drink. A bit of energy would help him with future combat, be it training or an actual battle. Whatever…

Snow-Lilly took a sip of her own small cube and finished it off. She seemed to be enjoying the fact that the 'cute' little Minicons were having themselves a good conversation. Sometimes it was tough trying to understand what they were saying. At times she could hear them discussing something about Humans, Autobots, or simply the base and it's Minicons. At other times, it just sounded like little beeps and whirrs. It was an on off thing.

Wish there was some intelligent conversation going on around here. The femme thought to herself.

"Hotshot, common! Let's go hang with Blurr and Snow!"

Snow-Lilly blinked and looked over quickly. The group of humans had run up and were looking up at her and Blurr expectantly, like a Sparkling waiting for an Energon goodie.

"Hey Blurr! We heard Scavenger was your Instructor, is that just a rumor or what?" The Human known as Rad waved up at the two. Snow-Lilly glanced at Blurr. That's right…Blurr had been under Scavenger's Instruction while she had been under-

"We saw how he instructed! MAN his snores were rockin' the house!" Carlos added in.

Snow-Lilly caught herself in mid-snort. Scavenger? Snore? Scavenger was just about as serious as Blurr when it came to Battle…OH she would give up a day of dance to hear that!

Blurr on the other hand, just sat and watched the humans in front of him. He did not move or talk to them. In all reality, he really didn't know what to do with them. He had enough of raising a sparkling, he didn't need it again, thank you very much.

"Tell us about Cybertron" Alexis requested, looking up at the duo with wonder. Surely she would get some insight about what Cybertron was like. "What's new?"

"Well there's-" Snow-Lilly started to say, before another kid busted in.

"Will you take me for a spin when you transform into Vehicle mode?" Billy asked eagerly, hoping one of these Autobots would beat that traitor Sideways at speed breaking.

Blurr was silent, and Snow-Lilly was hesitant.

"Well I-"

"Hey, you're hard as steal!" Fred patted Blurr's hard leg then poked at his own belly fat. "I still gotta work on this bad boy."

Snow-Lilly moved aside slightly and took a seat next to Blurr, staring at the group as they interacted. Yes…they were very much like 300 year old Sparklings conversing, playing, and arguing together. It was endearing. Optimus had said that they were their friends…they seemed like pets rather…

Snow-Lilly smiled and watched the kids. "You guys are funny" she cooed.

"Why didn't anyone tell me there was a party?"

Snow-Lilly paused and looked up as the young Autobot known as Hotshot made his way into the room, a grin plastered on his face. She paused and glanced at Blurr quickly, before a small smile made it's way to her. "Hey…Hotshot right?"

The yellow mech grinned. "That's my name."

"Humph" Blurr stood up slowly, then started walking out.

Hotshot blinked and watched him. "Was it something I said?" he asked, earning no reply from the blue mech.

"Hey come back! We were just getting to know you!" Rad called out to the Retreating Autobot.

Hotshot, however, frowned at the attitude. "If you're trying to give me a complex, you'll have to do better than that" he called out.

Blurr paid no head. He really didn't care what the Mech said. It was getting cramped in there, and it wasn't his style to just sit around and chat. He'd find something to do to keep him from being idle.

Snow-Lilly watched Blurr go and debated about going after him. In the few hours that they had been there, Blurr had given her a lecture about her giving him some space; that she shouldn't be hanging around in only one spot.

The femme took the chance she had. While the others were distracted watching Blurr leave, Snow-Lilly managed to slip out the door in the other side of the room. Perhaps she would find the shooting room or something. This ought to be good.

The femme made her pace quicken when she heard that now her absence was noted.

"Hey, where'd Snow-Lilly go?"

"Those two aren't the friendliest are they?"

"Hold on…maybe they just wanted to see the base!"

"Are you serious Carlos?"

"Sure! Let's go help them!"

The sound of feet was heard and the Femme gasped and ran down the hall, then turned a corner, pressing her back against the wall. Please don't find me, Please don't find me…

The humans ran right past her and soon the sound of their feet faded off.

Snow-Lilly let out a breath, then got out of her hiding spot. "Those humans are so cute" she murmured. "Perhaps with time I'll get used to them." A smile came to her face, then she looked around. "Maybe I can work on my sharpshooting…" The femme looked at her gauntlet and headed out to find the room.

Had she had paid attention, She would have noticed Optimus watching her from the same corner that she had turned to hide. He had been curious about what she was hiding from. Now he watched as she tried to find her way.

Surely these two will make a good addition. Getting them used to their surroundings won't be as easy as others…but they have potential.

****

Bam!....Bam Bam!!

….

BAM!!

"hmm…" Snow-Lilly looked at the screen and sighed. "end program".

The scene around her changed from a battlefield to a mere training room with a hallow-projector. The fem sighed and stretched a bit. She could get no higher than level 5 or 6, but she herself was still in training. She could get higher if Blurr was in here and it was on partner mode. "Too bad he's busy" she murmured. "I work better with a partner"

"Then why don't you have one?"

Snow-Lilly gasped and swiped out her gun, finding herself aiming at the face of a short but buff looking Orange bot. His hands raised slightly. "Whoa! Take it easy honey, I'm not part of the projection"

Snow-Lilly paused and quickly put her rifle away. "S-sorry- sorry" she quickly stepped back. "I didn't know- I would have never- I didn't mean to-"

The Mech smiled and patted her shoulder. "You're fine sweetie, just don't put a hole in my armor, and we're cool"

Snow-Lilly paused and let out a small, very brief, laugh. She took a step back and fiddled with her thumbs, watching the craned wonder in front of her.

The Mech continued to smile. "Name's Smokescreen. I've been working with Optimus and the others since the Beta cycle. Except for Hotshot. He's only about a few hundred thousand years older than you."

"Hotshot…oh, that yellow show-off right?"

Smokescreen let out a laugh. He hadn't heard anyone call Hotshot a Show-off since his first few years of being on the team. "Yep that's him." He chuckled again and leaned against the wall. "But he's a nice kid. You get used to him and he rubs off on yah after a while."

This guy talks a lot, but he's friendly.

Snow-Lilly listened to him, but every now and then she would take another tiny step back to widen the space between them. After talking his head off for a while, Smokescreen seemed to take note of the Femme's shyness.

The older mech let a moment of silence go by before he smiled. "How about a quick round of duo? You were training right? I'll be your partner."

"Partner?" Snow-Lilly looked up. "Oh but I'm use to my-"

"Hey Smokescreen, could you get in here and help me with this device?" The voice of Red-Alert came onto Smokescreen's com-link. "I know you have experience with these."

Smokescreen looked down and pressed his gauntlet. "Sure. I'll be right over." He replied. Looking up, he smiled at the femme. "Maybe later?"

Snow-Lilly paused and nodded. "y-yeah…ok"

The orange mech smiled lightly, turned and left the room, leaving Snow-Lilly by herself. The femme let out a small breath of relief. There were others here…she observed that there were seven of them all together. Surely she could get used to a bunch of mechs again, right?


	2. First Mistake

"Blurr's getting to know all the staff it seems" Smokescreen commented, watching the mech walk away from the Yellow rookie after a small spout.

"Looks like it" Red-Alert replied, watching Hotshot as he stood there, seething at the departing Blurr. The blue mech had not attempted to make any friends or get to know anyone…He had been more concerned about getting work done and training, rather than mingle with others.

Smokescreen watched as Hotshot ended up storming out of the room himself, then looked over to Red-Alert inquiringly. "What's up with Blurr?"

"These things can take time Smokescreen" Red-Alert replied. "Blurr's been in situations that Hotshot has not been introduced to quite yet. And Hotshot's been in more friendly environments than Blurr…I'm sure they'll rub each other the wrong way."

"I was certain most Autobots would be more than glad to come to Earth and help out. I mean even Scavenger has learned to balance good work with a well placed snore." Smokescreen looked to the side lightly. "Although, now it's getting harder to recharge because of that rumbling now…"

"Scavenger is older than Blurr though. He's been through more and seen more. Give it time Smokescreen. You may start to like the jerk after a while" Red-Alert looked back to the device and kept working.

Smokescreen paused at Red-Alert's slip up, then chuckled, walking over to help Red-Alert with the device. "He's got an interesting taste of partner's though." Smokescreen fiddled with a screw. "He's strict and serious, While Snow-Lilly's shy and timid. Can't say I blame her though."

Red-Alert paused for a second to reflect, then went back to his work. "Those two have been through a lot. Snow-Lilly has had to deal with Blurr for longer than anyone. Naturally she's going to trust him more than us for now…Give it-"

"Time. I know" Smokescreen pressed a button on the device and a loud pop was heard. Two seconds later, the device started smoking. The two mechs stared at it for a moment, before Red-Alert gave the older bot an accusing look.

"…Oops?" Smokescreen gave a sheepish grin.

***D**

"Megatron! We've detected another Minicon signal" Demolisher looked over to the Decepticon leader for a word. "It's around the desiccated section of sector 2"

Megatron stood. "We must get that before the Autobots do…and I will NOT Tolerate failure" He looked from Demolisher to Razor-Wind. "From EITHER of you"  
_  
_No Duh. Will the old crone tolerate anything?

"Understood sir" Razor-Wind crossed his arms impatiently, hoping to get this game on the road.

"Move out men!"

"Yes sir!"

The mechs turned to leave for the Warp gate, not too eager but not too slacking either. If Megatron saw any slack at this point it would be a good rage from the horn head.

Razor-Wind let out a grunt as Cyclonus pushed past him.

"After me" The crazy con grinned and jumped into the warp gate, warping out.

Razor-Wind frowned and glanced to Starscream. "What are you feeding this jerk? Sterogon?" he asked sarcastically.

"Shut up and keep moving" The seeker growled, not wanting to deal with the new creep right now.

Razor-Wind did as told, a smirk coming to his face. Finally a chance to show what he was capable of. Once he warped he was surprised when the team was face to face with the Minicon already, not an Autobot in sight! "Lovely" he muttered. "It can't get any worse can it?"

At that much said, the little Minicon in the form of a car squealed his tired and rushed past the group as fast as he could.

"After him you fools!" Megatron roared.

Perfect! Razor wind transformed into an sleek armed vehicle and drove after the Minicon, chasing the other Decepticons who were hot on the trail. It wasn't as fun as fighting those hero jerks, but terrorizing was almost as good.

"Get over here you little creep" Razor-Wind growled, trying to speed up. The mech known as Sideways was in his way, and he was pretty quick too. No matter, he'd have that little bug first. Some twists and turns were avoided. This track was obviously abandoned for good reason. The track was separated, ruins were everywhere and destruction was being dished out at the small shootings the cons were making in attempt to slow the Minicon down.

This is my kind of field.

Razor-Wind sped up and aimed his gun at the Small Minicon. "Gotcha now" he growled.

His aiming was interrupted when a second Minicon landed on the ground and chased after the first one. "What the-"

"Get after him, Swindle!" Starscream yelled from above.

"WHAT did you to that for?" Razor-Wind growled. "I almost had him no thanks to your worthless Minicon!"

"My Minicon is worth more than your sorry butt. Now keep at it, Rookie!" the Seeker shot back.

"Rookie?" Razor-Wind snarled, wanting badly to transform and give this jet a piece of his mind. However, he left it at that and kept driving, leaping over a gap in the road, still chasing the little rodent. Once they landed, He noticed a sight in the distance…

All of his plotting to rip Starscream's wings off was distracted, now that their 'play mates' were on the battle field. Who cares about the Minicon? Now it's time for serious pain!

From the Autobots point of view, however, It wasn't about tearing up the Decepticons, it was about saving the Minicon. "Listen up, we've got two Minicons to focus on" Optimus turn to the team. "Get the Decepticons away from them, and get those Minicons out of harm's way"

"Yes sir!" came the sound-off.

"Blurr, Hotshot, rescue those Minicons. The rest of you, back them up" Optimus ordered, getting in front to intercept the Decepticons. Snow-Lilly paused and looked to Blurr questionably.

"You heard him, kid. Not my problem" Blurr muttered, motioning her to join the rest of the team.

"I've got a bad feeling" she murmured, finally doing as told, staying close to the rear.

Hotshot watched her go and looked to Blurr. "You don't get along with anyone do you?" he shot lightly, earning no answer.

Cyclonus moved in, firing heavily on the Autobots, laughing insanely and shouting out any threat possible to them. The Autobots however, weren't too concerned about what he was saying, just what he was doing.

Snow-Lilly ducked from a shot blown and did her best to shoot at the helicopter. This was like playing level seven on that training deck when she could only get slightly past level 6! Firing more shots, she allowed the two Minicons to race by her, then blocked off the opening. Seems she was better at defense than offence. The femme narrowed her optics slightly. Training back on Cybertron was nothing compared to this…she had encountered Decepticons before…but most of them were rookies…like her.

It was no wonder she couldn't do as good here…if that was even considered good.

Her thoughts were cut off by the sound of screeching tires. Looking over she noticed Hotshot and Blurr in vehicle mode smashing against each other. "What the slag?" she paused and watched. WHAT were they doing? Blurr should know better than to be doing this again!!

"Smokescreen! Snow-Lilly!"

The femme paused, hearing her name mentioned and looked over horror in her optics. She was being paired with somebody!?

Optimus looked over with serious optics. "Help Hotshot and Blurr!" he commanded.

Smokescreen nodded, just as serious. "We're on our way!" he replied, turning and running towards the two fighting Autobot cars. "This way, kid!"

Snow-Lilly hesitated, then looked back to Optimus for a brief second, then turned and ran in the orange mech's direction. No matter even if she was paired, she wasn't going to keep looking at that leader's optics.

"Going to help your buddies huh?" Razor-Wind chuckled evilly, watching the older and younger members of the team preparing to lend a hand. "That's so touching. Too bad it will be for naught." The Decepticon laughed and sped up to catch up to the duo.

Snow-Lilly ran up beside Smokescreen and looked at the situation. Hotshot and Blurr were trying to catch one Minicon while being perused by Starscream, Cyclonus, and Sideways. It wasn't exactly fair odds with the flyers.

Smokescreen was aiming at the flyers a frown on his face as he concentrated to get a good shot at the seeker in the sky. "Got him…let's blow that puppy from the sky! Liftor, Power-link!"

Snow-Lilly was now made aware of the small Minicon by Smokescreen's side, who transformed and connected himself to the Autobot, unleashing a long cannon from the crane on his shoulder. Snow-Lilly gawked in amazement at the sudden unleash of power and all she could utter was a small "whoa"

The elder mech glanced at the young femme and his expression changed from serious to silly. "Watch this! I'm about to go play duck hunt with actual ducks!" he grinned and shot from the cannon, which hit Starscream dead-on. The wounded Decepticon sunk to the ground, his engines having trouble from the hit.

"That's a bull's eye, partner!" Smokescreen praised his Minicon and aimed at Sideways, then shot him from his spot, which jarred Cyclonus, who was flying over the bike.

"That was a lucky shot!" the helicopter snarled, changing his direction to the duo. Snow-Lilly froze slightly out of fear. Smokescreen on the other hand, knew he had this down. "Oh is that so? Get ready to be blasted back to Cybertron!" The Autobot yelled, charging his cannon.

"HAH! No chance of that, Autobot slime!" Cyclonus beat the older mech to the shot and blasted Smokescreen out of his stance. Smokescreen cried out in pain and landed on his side, holding his arm tightly.

"Smokescreen!" Snow-Lilly gasped and almost went to his aid, but turned around at hearing the sound of crazy laughter. That helicopter was still coming!

Snow-Lilly winced and quickly reached for her gun, but was cut off when the Decepticon transformed and landed in front of her, grinning wildly.

"Well well! I haven't seen you around, sweetheart!" Cyclonus laughed and reached for her.

"Ack!" Snow-Lilly reeled and punched the idiot in the face…then recoiled, holding her now aching hand. "Whoa! He's tougher than I thought!" she yelped wincing.

"Snow-Lilly! Look out!" Smokescreen's voice yelled.

Snow-Lilly paused then quickly dogged a hard blow aimed by the Decepticon, then turned, trying to get the upper hand. He was strong! How was she going to beat someone who was bigger and stronger? The young femme paused for a few seconds before noticing the blades on the psycho's back.

"You're askin' for it, darlin'" Cyclonus growled, trying to reach for her. "Now why don't you make nice?" A chuckle and he grabbed her wrist. "But first, a little payback!"

The purple femme growled and struck his blades with a small device, then wrenched free of his grip, backing away quickly.

Cyclonus gave her a strange look, then began to advance on her. "That's right, you better be scared, you little-…what the-?"

A whir was heard and electricity crackled. Suddenly his blades started going without his control. "Whoa!! Hey! What's- huh?!" Cyclonus yelped as the out of control blades sent him flying into the air, spinning and whirling crazily. The Decepticon screamed as he finally crashed into a large side of bolder and rocks.

Snow-Lilly panted and watched the 'graceful' landing of the Decepticon, then straightened up. "Have a nice trip! See yah next fall!" she yelled.

She turned back to attempt to help Smokescreen up. He looked like he was starting to get up, but his shoulder was messed up bad. He was checking on his Minicon and wincing. Snow-Lilly started to go over hesitantly. He seemed fine right? Couldn't he get up on his own?

Smokescreen looked up in her direction and his expression changed to horror. "Kid! Look out!! DUCK NOW!!" He yelled franticly to her. Snow-Lilly paused in her tracks. What did he mean? Why did she need to-

SLASH!

Snow-Lilly gasped lightly and fell to the ground, surges of pain going throughout her body. She tried to scream, but the pain was way too great. She felt a hot feeling on her back…she was losing mech fluid…and it hurt…

IT HURT!!

A low chuckle was heard from above her. She powered on her optics enough to see a tall shadow above her, two blades drawn, and ready to strike once more.

"How about that? Not much sport, but I enjoy a slow and painful death" Razor-Wind sneered and got ready to send his blades into the femme's body.

"Get AWAY from her!" Smokescreen roared, tackling his body as hard as he could into the mech's side.

Razor-Wind let out a yelp and stumbled to the ground. He growled and grabbed his blades, looking for the creep who kept him from his fun.

Smokescreen towered over the shook up Decepticon, cannon ready, optics dangerously narrow. "For a new guy, you sure don't know how to treat a lady. Let me give you some lessons on manners!" He started to charge his cannon, but Razor-Wind was quick to jump up and clog the blast with a smaller blade from his stock.

Razor-Wind grinned evilly. "Boom" he growled, transforming and driving off quickly.

Smokescreen gasped as he realized his situation…But he was on the ground before he could do anything about it. The mech groaned in pain and managed to sit up. "Liftor, are you ok?" He asked the Minicon who was sprawled out against him.

As ok as I'll get… The Minicon beeped, getting up with difficulty.

Smokescreen helped the Minicon up, then despite the damage done to himself, scrambled as best as he could over to the wounded rookie. "Kid…Kid are you alright?" he mumbled with pain, setting a hand on her shoulder. His optics were drawn to the gashes on her back. The experienced mech was quick to put a gentle hand on her back to discourage more mech fluid from escaping.

"Snow-Lilly?" The mech tried again. No response. She had already gone into stasis. Smokescreen sighed lightly. "Don't worry kid. You're in good hands"

"Smokescreen!"

The said mech looked over, to an approaching Optimus and Red-Alert.

"Optimus- The kid's hurt. Bad. It's all my fault- I couldn't get to her quick enough- I couldn't" Smokescreen tried to get up, but was discouraged by the Autobot leader.

"Take it easy, She's in our hands now" Optimus reassured his soldier, and glanced to Red-Alert, who was already taking a look at the wounded femme.

"Optimus- what happened? Where's the Minicon?" Smokescreen looked up expectantly. Optimus patted the orange mech's shoulder and shook his head. "We lost it. The new Decepticon snatched it from out of Hotshot's hands. Everyone's alright though."

"But- what about-" Smokescreen started to motion his fallen comrade, but Optimus stopped him again.

"You're wounded as well, soldier" He said firmly. "Take it easy…"

***D**

"Well done, Razor-Wind" Megatron grinned as he held the newly formed Sky-boom shield in his hand. His gaze rested on the newest member of the team. "You have certainly earned your keep"

Razor-Wind crossed his arms and grinned. "It was too much fun" he replied, thinking of those two wounded Autobots. Too bad he couldn't finish them off…but such is life. Now he was a part of the team and he could toy with those weaklings all he wanted.

Oh yes…this would be good…this would be all too good.


	3. Warming up

**Thanks for reading my story! ^^ I've been having fun writing it and I hope ya'll enjoy it! Please read and review, pretty plz! I want to know what you like and what you don't like so it can help me with future chapters 3 Thanks guys and enjoy!**

***A***

Darkness…it's not one of my favorite things…it makes me feel weak and powerless…I'm already timid and scared of a lot of things…

What happened? Hadn't I been doing good? Was this a bad dream? Surely that's what it is. When I wake up, I'll be safe and sound back at Cybertron. Back with my friends…back with my brothers…

"Snow-Lilly…"

It'll be over soon, right? Once I'm awake, I'll laugh at this bad dream…

"Snow-Lilly?"

Surely…it'll be over soon…

**A***

"Snow-Lilly…good to see you back online"

Her optics powered on and the femme's vision cleared slowly. A small groan emitted from her and she sat up, holding her head softly. "Wow…that was a wild dream."

"Was it now? Well things will calm down a bit now, now that you're fully recovered."

"Recovered? I'll feel better knowing that I'm still on Cyber-" Snow-Lilly shook her head a bit and looked up. Optimus and basically the whole team were standing around her, watching her with anticipation. Red-Alert was putting away some tools, then turned around and offered her an energon cube.

"Here, drink this and you should get your strength back. Just don't do anything too intense, Snow-Lilly" He instructed.

Snow-Lilly hesitated and took the cube. "…so it wasn't a dream…" she muttered softly.

Red-Alert shook his head lightly. "I'm afraid not." He replied.

The femme frowned down at the cube and lightly sipped at it. All that…it was real…that explained the light burning in her back…wait- light? Snow-Lilly paused and reached behind her, feeling her back. The wheels were in place and her armor was slightly warm, but intact. "Wha-"

"Man as soon as you got here you brought all the action with yah" Hotshot smiled. "You better cool down, We still need to get to know you more."

Snow-Lilly looked at him, puzzled. "What- What do you mean 'cool down'?"

Blurr crossed his arms, motioning to Hotshot. "Listen to him Snow. You might actually learn a lesson. Don't run into battle like that again. You're STILL in training, that's why you're hear with the best."

"What are you TALKING about?" Snow-Lilly pointed at Blurr. "I was TRYING to help Smok-"

"I know! But over these past three solar-cycles we've almost lost you!" Blurr raised his voice at her in a sharp manner…sharper than intended.

A silence fell over the room and Snow-Lilly gawked. "…Three…solar cycles?...I've been out for THREE solar cycles?" The femme gaped.

The rest of the mechs looked at each other then back to the femme, knowing in their optics.

Snow-Lilly looked down a bit, her grip tightening on the energon cube. Of course…she had to be the one causing the trouble didn't she?

_I thought I was doing a good job…I beat that Decepticon with my own wit…I was winning…I felt…needed._

A hand was placed on her shoulder and the femme glanced up slightly…then quickly scrambled off the birth upon realizing that it was Optimus who had attempted to comfort her. The quick motion, however, caused the femme to stumble in a sudden shock to her system, causing her to cling to the birth as she tried to stand.

Red-Alert steadied her, holding her by the shoulders gently but firmly so as not to do anymore damage that was already done.

Optimus watched the femme closely. "You did a good thing, Snow-Lilly" he reassured. "You were protecting your partner, which is a very Autobot thing to do. However, you let your guard down and didn't trust Smokescreen when he warned you that there was danger. I understand you're still getting used to your surroundings, and we won't rush you. Just remember that in an era of combat, all of us are a team, and a team needs to work together." Optimus nodded to her. "Now…get some rest. You should be back in shape by morning if you do as Red-Alert tells you to."

Snow-Lilly avoided optic-contact with him, afraid to look at him, expecting him to give her a look that would say 'see what you've done? This is all your doing'. As wrong as she was, she didn't want to find out either way.

Optimus once again noticed her demeanor towards him, then looked to Hotshot and Blurr. "Help her to her quarters. By morning she should be alright. But just in case, keep an eye on her all day tomorrow."

"Yes sir" The duo nodded, walking over to Red-Alert, who helped Snow-Lilly get into the company of the duo. As they left the room, Snow-Lilly cast a glance back at the Autobot leader, then quickly looked down, her fears confirmed that he was very much still watching.

_Why does he have to do that?  
_  
"Relax kid." Hotshot smiled at the wobbling femme as they rounded a corner. "He's not mad at 'cha. Trust me. I get my share of lectures from him as well."

"You sure deserve it though" Blurr muttered, helping her support herself.

"Ah, common Blurr. Give her a break" Hotshot looked over slightly.

"…Alright fine. But she's going to get it during training once she's better" Blurr looked back to the younger mech, who smiled.

"That's fair"

Snow-Lilly blinked lightly. Was Blurr…talking to this guy? What happened? Just yesterday he wouldn't even LOOK at the gu-…oh…right…it had been three days since that ordeal. What had happened that made them like each other? She was sure they would rip each other's helmets off by now.

"Everyone's sure glad you're ok though." Hotshot informed her as they sat her down on her recharge birth. The yellow mech made sure she was steady before raising up. "Man you caused a lot of commotion for someone we just met."

Snow-Lilly looked up, confused. "For me? What for? I did nothing."

Blurr and Hotshot looked to each other, then back to the inquiring femme.

"Does there need to be a reason?" Blurr asked her, crossing his arms. "You acted like a part of the team…better than what I myself was doing."

"Besides, You're an Autobot. And Autobots stick together" Hotshot patted her shoulder slightly. "A good soldier never leaves a Mech behind."

"Oh yeah, thanks" Snow-Lilly looked up with a strange look.

Hotshot paused and looked sheepish. "Or a femme, that too."

"Get some rest, Snow. Hotshot will watch over you tonight, and we'll get you around in the morning" Blurr rose to leave the room. Snow-Lilly paused and grimaced. "Wait- You're not-"

"Snow." Blurr turned around, his optics serious. "I can't always be your partner. You and I both need others." With that he turned and walked out of the room without too much noise.

Snow-Lilly gawked. Blurr…really never talked like this…what happened to him since that battle?

"You know, he looks indifferent now, but you should have seen him when you were hurt" Hotshot remarked. Snow-Lilly looked at him with an inquiring look of 'what do you mean?'

The yellow mech grinned and stood up. "He was going nutz. He wouldn't shut up until Red proved that you'd be ok."

The femme once again found herself gawking. "Are you…serious?"

"Get some sleep" The older rookie made sure she laid down and patted her shoulder. "I'll be outside the door if you need anything." With that said, the mech turned and headed out of the room.

Snow-Lilly watched him go, a tangle of thoughts in her head…all this was so new…and not long had gone by and so much had happened already…maybe…this wasn't a bad idea…but…she wasn't sure if she could get to it just yet.

"….Hotshot?"

"yeah?" The bot turned slightly just as he was walking out.

"….thank you…"

Hotshot smiled slightly and nodded. "No problem, buddy" A slight move of his hand, and the door closed behind him.

Snow-Lilly watched the door for a long time, before laying her head back and watching the ceiling.

_How can I deal with this?...Can I really be a part of a team, and not just…a thing that hangs around…from what I've seen…the chances are slim…but…there's always tomorrow…_

Snow-Lilly couldn't remember her last thought, for she had drifted into recharge mode.

When she woke again, the sounds of struggle was heard. The femme powered on her optics and gasped lightly, wondering if somehow the Decepticons had managed to squeeze into the base. She got up quickly, which caused her circuits to spark a bit due to the weakness in her system. Slowly she opened the door slightly to peek out…

She ended up sticking her head out to get a better view of what was going on.

Smokescreen had Hotshot in a head lock, and Hotshot was whining and begging him to let him go.

"Come on Hotshot! Surely a big shot like you can get out of a little mess like this, right? Unless you just want to admit that I won that game fair and square!" The older mech chuckled, giving Hotshot a slight noogie.

"No WAY!" Hotshot tried to struggle against the stronger orange mech.

"You're just afraid of losing, kid"

"I am NOT!! And I did NOT lose!"

Snow-Lilly blinked and a small smile came to her face. Wow…this was certainly something you didn't see in boot camp. They were acting like brothers…almost like…

Snow-Lilly paused and looked down. Those days were over…never to return. Now she was stuck in a war she really wanted no part of and she didn't know how it would end…she'd only been there for a little bit and she had already caused trouble for her team…if only she had gone offline-

She gasped and shook her head quickly. That was NO way to think…what would he think?

"I DIDN'T LOSE!!...I just came in second…that's NOT losing!!"

"HAH!" Smokescreen let go of Hotshot and grinned. "Hotshot admitting defeat…MUSIC to my audio sensors!"

"I never said I lost!" Hotshot waved his arms around, practically steaming.

The purple femme smiled at the conversation in front of her, then slowly slipped out of the room. As long as Hotshot was busy, she wouldn't have someone following her around all day. Casting one last glance back, she rounded the corner.

_How funny. Mechs have the strongest of arguments over the littlest of things. They ALL want to be on top of everything while they think we girls can amount to nothing…but then…_

Her thoughts paused…Hotshot and Smokescreen had been awfully nice to her…

"Come ON Carlos! That's not at all how Red-Alert said to assemble it!"

The femme paused and looked into the room she was headed for. The five humans…the ones she had met a few days ago were in the break room. Oh and how appropriate…they were breaking something…

The femme took a few steps in and listened to the conversation. The female in that group seemed to be having trouble with guys as well…Not to mention she seemed to be the only female in that group as well…only the way this human was acting was...in control and with authority.

"Well it's not MY fault the dude didn't tell me what the difference between energon active and energon pessimist is! I don't even know the MEANING of those words!!" Carlos complained, trying to get the devise to work. His little hands were struggling with the task of holding a long tube and twisting a strange gadget on top of the device.

"You've GOT to be kidding!" Alexis growled and stomped over. "HERE!" pushing the boy aside, she grabbed the electric connecter and made the wires switch places, then flipped on a few switches. She looked over to Rad, who had a large round bolt. "Twist that on in the middle." She muttered.

"Y-yeah, ok" Rad nodded and did as told. You would think that he was human equivalent of a screwdriver when he struggled with tightening the stupid thing.

"You sure you know what you're doing Alexis?" Billy asked, leaning against the wall. "I didn't think that a girl would know about mechanics."

Snow-Lilly's attention was suddenly at high alert and she stared at the human for a bit.

~~~P~~~

"How is this put together? It seems a bit complicated." Snow-Lilly murmured, while fiddling with a laser rifle. The commander behind her glanced over as she and the rest of the other mechs in the room were challenged to disassemble and reassemble each other's weapons.

With a smirk, the commander put a hand on her shoulder and leaned down. "Of course it is honey. I wouldn't expect a femme to know complicated things. You'll have to keep practicing darlin'. Maybe you'll amount to a good medic if not a soldier."

Snow-Lilly's optics widened at the comment…

~~P~~

The femme continued to stare at the human, before realizing that the group was now looking at her, acknowledging her presence.

"Hey! Snow-Lilly!" Rad greeted, waving. "How are you feeling?"

The femme paused and took a few steps in, staying silent, but watching the group with interest.

Fred was munching on something but took a few steps up, along with Carlos and Billy. "We heard about your encounter with that new guy." He said with a mouthful. "That was scary, huh?"

"We didn't just hear about it, we SAW it you idiot." Billy hit Fred over the head rather roughly.

Snow-Lilly blinked her optics. "You-…saw it?...How? I don't recall you being at the battle."

"We weren't" Carlos confirmed putting his hands behind his head. "That's Laser-Beak's job."

"Laser-beak?" The femme leaned down a bit in the most non-threatening pose that she could muster, and looked at the kids with question. "What is that?"

"Not 'what'; who." Alexis corrected, reaching inside her pocket, and then taking out a camera, which promptly transformed into a bird-like creature, then flew up into the air towards the femme and landed on the back of her hand that was resting on her knee.

Snow-Lilly gave off a strange look then raised her hand slowly to view the creature. Laser-Beak looked up at her which made her flinch ever so slightly.

~Nice to meet you, fellow Autobot~

Snow-Lilly gasped lightly as she swore some kind of thought that wasn't her own had entered her head. Did it…talk? Without talking at all?

"Man you kicked Cyclonus' but SO bad!"

The femme's attention was dragged from the mysterious 'talking' bird, to the human named Carlos, who looked more than enthusiastic. "You should have seen the LOOK on his face when he was in air, out of control! HAH! And your comeback was made of win!"

"It's always fun to watch any of the Autobots hand that maniac's butt to him" Rad grinned over at the purple femme. "That was just clever, Snow-Lilly."

Snow-Lilly paused, a small blush on her face. Were these kids praising her? For what? She didn't do anything major. Either way, she managed a soft smile to the children. "That's…That's awfully nice of you, kids. Thank you"

The kids seemed to react with enthusiasm to her words because now they were pretty much all talking at once. Snow-Lilly blinked…she really couldn't separate what they were saying…they sounded like a bunch of sparklings trying to get attention.

~They're a rowdy bunch, aren't they?~

Snow-Lilly gasped once again, and looked down at the metal bird…

"She's so cool, huh? Cyclonus sure got what he deserved!"

"She's lucky she didn't go offline! Surviving that! She must be real strong!"

"She's sure a whole lot nicer than Blurr."

The femme paused and looked down with curiosity. "I beg your pardon? Why are you talking about Blurr like that?"

The group went silent and looked to one another. Carlos scratched his head and glared at Fred for his comment. "Well…what he means is…He's…not that sociable." The boy looked up. "The Day we met you, we tried to play a harmless trick on him…and well, he balled us out as though we committed a crime."

Rad noticed the look on Snow-Lilly's face as Carlos explained what had happened not too long ago. Her face seemed to reflect a mixture of worry, sadness, and anger.

"But he did end up apologizing later after you were in a more stable condition" Rad suddenly said, trying to shut Carlos up. "He and Hotshot had a talk about how they had been treating each other, and over these past three days he has loosened up a bit."

Carlos looked over at Rad slightly. "Well yeah, but he doesn't have that much of a humor."

"Neither dose Red-Alert, but you like him, right?" Alexis pointed out, her hands on her hips.

The boy seemed to think about this. "Well yeah…"

"Well then there you go"

Snow-Lilly decided she had had enough of this conversation and stood up, her gaze resting on Rad and Alexis, who seemed to be continuing work on the device that apparently Red-Alert had assigned them to put together.

"…Need a hand?" she finally asked, shaking Laser-Beak off her hand gently. The little Autobot simply flew into the air. "You've got the electro-compositor upside down."

"Huh?" Alexis looked over the device. It seemed fine to her…but then again this was Autobot technology. The girl turned to the mostly quiet femme and smiled. "Sure! Help yourself."

Carefully, Snow-Lilly got herself over to the device without stepping on any humans and rested on her knees. She then started to rearrange a few pieces to other parts of the device then closed the lid. "Most of it was very well put together. Good job" she cooed quietly.

"Thanks" Rad smiled. "We did our best."

Snow-Lilly looked over and smiled at the boy. "Doing your best is always an up." She set the device down and pressed a button on it. A red light glowed at the other side of the room. The femme looked up and tilted her head. "What would Optimus' troops want with a moving target projector? Surely they mastered that lesson stellar cycles ago…"

"What do you mean?" Alexis walked over to the sitting femme, and looked at the red light that glowed. "Is it some kind of exercise?"

Snow-Lilly looked down at Alexis and nodded. "Yeah…it's a Rookie exercise. Something I'm still working on myself. This device sits on a ledge and the light moves at different speeds…from slow to fast. Once you hit it, it'll disappear, then two more will appear and begin firing. Until you hit 20 without being hit, they keep multiplying…like I said…Rookie exercise."

"It sounds tough. How many times have you beaten this game?" Carlos asked looking back to the femme who seemed absorbed in her thoughts.

The femme tensed slightly at the question. Her optics looked to the ground. "About fifty times…on partner mode…"

"What about on your own? Double? Triple?" Billy asked with a grin, expecting a far larger number.

Snow-Lilly stayed silent, then slowly got up. She glanced at the kids and managed a half-hearted smile. "Um…I'm going to go train…I'd love to see you kids again" she said quietly. "Thanks for being so nice to me." Without another word, the purple femme quickly left the room.

The kids watched her leave looking shocked at how she handled a simple question like that. Rad looked to Billy almost accusingly.

"It was JUST a question" Billy defended himself against the 'leader' of the group.

"That was weird." Carlos said. "It's like she doesn't like to fight."

Alexis reflected on the boy's words and looked at the door that the femme had retreated out of. "…Maybe she doesn't"

***A**

It's amazing how much the past affects people. It's even more amazing how the past can end up changing somebody into someone they don't want to be…

In other cases it'll turn them into someone that makes them forget who they truly are…

I don't exactly know what lies ahead…but I know what has happened…at least I have something to look at.

***Decepticon base****

Razor-Wind let off a soft pant before he turned around to see the damage he had inflicted on the targets that he had set up. They were almost all completely destroyed…shame…he had aimed to destroy them all.

Sheathing his blades, the Decepticon turned from the grounds and took a few steps on the moon's surface. Glancing upward, he noticed the Earth slowly rotating. Earth was a mystery to him…even though he had only been on the surface once, it had a lot of mysteries to it…

It could warm itself up and cool itself off…it glowed with a radiant glow if the sun hit it just right…and this planet seemed to have a mind of its own…even TEMPERS…

He had the pleasure of viewing from the moon something the humans called a 'hurricane'. The winds were completely destructive and brutal. It was utterly merciless to all in its path. The Decepticon smirked and shook his head. The prettier the planet, the more glorious the destruction…THAT's how he felt.

He seemed to pause with curiosity when he saw a figure riding in the distance. The vehicle was speeding away from the base, bumping along the surface of the moon. Razor-Wind's optics narrowed and he transformed and rode as silently as he could after it. After a bit of driving, he saw the bike transform, grab a Minicon, and put it on his head…wait a minute…the Minicon WAS his head.

Interesting…

Razor-Wind slowed himself down until the Decepticon known as Sideways jumped into a crater. What could he possibly do in there? Quietly he transformed and peeked over the edge, to see Sideways holding up his gauntlet and muttering silently…

Was he talking?

The sharp mech waited for a while before the purple and yellow mech in the crater ended his log with. "They'll never see this coming…Agent Sideways logging off"

Razor-Wind's optics narrowed slightly…interesting…was it possible that this mech was an Autobot spy? He would not have that at all…Of course…should he attack, Sideways would have the advantage since there was more cover down there…

The mech frowned but transformed and whirred slightly to get moon dust on his armor.

Unfortunately Sideways was not deaf. The mech quickly looked up…but he saw nothing. With a skeptical optic, the biker Decepticon transformed and rode off, going back to the base.

After a few cycles, Razor-Wind transformed, his cameo wearing off. With a dark smirk he took out one of his blades.

"Hiding something are we?" He muttered lowly. "Well this is going to be fun."

***D**

Back in the Decepticon base, Starscream and Cyclonus were enjoying a good spar…although it really looked like two brothers fighting over the remote control. Cyclonus rolled to the side and punched Starscream in the gut, who then promptly toppled over and grunted in pain.

Thinking he had the upper hand, Cyclonus quickly got up, clutched his fists together, and prepared to send a blow to the seeker's back.

Starscream had other plans, however. Gritting his teeth, the red and white jet got on his hands and quickly did a slide kick under Cyclonus. The copter let out a yelp and slammed on his back with surprise. Starscream then quickly got up, took his wing-sword and quickly placed it on Cyclonus' chest.

A moment of silence went through, before Starscream glared at Cyclonus.

"If you EVER dump oil on me in the middle of a recharge again, I will not hesitate to cut your blades off" He growled threateningly. Cyclonus put up his hands in defense. "Ok- ok!! Fine! I can see you can't take a joke, Screamer."

"You are an idiot" Starscream growled, putting his sword away.

Demolisher stood at the other side of the room, crossing his arms and watching. This team certainly knew how to make fools of themselves…especially in front of the Autobots…but since Megatron now had the Skyboom shield, there was a possibility that now they could cut down the Autobots without problem since they also had the sword as well.

All the Autobots had, were themselves and the humans. Not a good way to try and win a war. Demolisher turned his head slightly. When they first got here, he had a pretty good grip on who was who…he had dealt with these two morons since he was a mere lieutenant.

Now he had dealt with Sideways, a previous Autobot turncoat; Scavenger, who turned out to be an Autobot; and now this new guy who just wants something to destroy…Needless to say, Razor-Wind reminded him of Cyclonus…only without the insane laughter.

"Razor-Wind…"

Both Starscream and Cyclonus looked up at Demolisher at the soldier's thoughts spilling out of his mouth.

"What about him?" Cyclonus asked, getting up and brushing himself off. "He's pretty neat." The copter-bot grinned insanely. "He's got good taste when it comes to his reason for being around"

"I can't help but think I've heard of this guy…" Demolisher continued, his thoughts not on the helicopter at all.

"What do you mean? Surely he's not that special. We checked his rank, and he's only a lt. Commander back on Cybertron" Starscream said, leaning against the wall, watching his comrade intensely.

Demolisher looked up at the seeker and frowned. "I know that, but when I reviewed his records, I saw that this guy never stays in one place at all. And if rumor serves correctly….every time he goes off A.W.O.L., There's a chance of a report of dead Autobots not long after…"

"Autobots are one thing, but dead Autobots are better. The guy's got spunk, at least he's not boring yet." Cyclonus grinned. "I know once I get board-"

"Do NOT fall asleep, you idiot!" Demolisher pointed at Cyclonus accusingly. "Megatron is preparing something for tonight!"

"I know, grouch-head." Cyclonus crossed his arms. "Now that he's got the sword AND the shield, we'll destroy the Autobots, get the Minicons, and be back at Cybertron in no time!"

"Yeah? Well you better hope that those two new Autobots don't hold too much of a threat to us" Starscream glared at Cyclonus. "You have been defeated by a femme of all things."

"I resent that!" Cyclonus stood up and pointed at Starscream. "The little creep pulled a fast one on me! OH boy, is she gonna get hers!" The copter-bot looked to the side with a small smirk on his face. "That little darlin' is going to have to think twice if she thinks I'm down."

"Decepticons! Report to the throne room IMMEDIATELY!"

The three in the room paused their conversation and quickly turned to run to the said room as fast as they could. They weren't planning on being last in the room for fear of being under Megatron's stern glare. His gaze was sometimes more frightening than the actual punishments that he inflicted on the 'cons.

Once they got there, however, Sideways was already there on one side of the room, and on the other side, Razor-Wind was leaning against the wall, looking at the ground. A small smirk came to his face as he heard the sound of the soldier's feet running in. Was that the best they could do foot-wise?

He had to admit, the Sub-commander Starscream was quite fast in his jet mode, and it was impressive…now if they hadn't been too caught up in that pathetic conversation…

Megatron, for once, was not interested on who to threaten. His back was turned to the entire team, and he held the Skyboom shield in his hand. The star saber Minicons stood by his feet, timidly gazing at the Decepticon leader.

The leader finally turned around, facing his troops and grinned smugly. "This shield…do you know what it is capable of?"

The Decepticons looked to one another, then looked back to Megatron as though he asked a trick question.

"Good protection?" The dumb-as-always copter-bot asked.

Megatron's grin turned into a scowl. "It is capable of destruction as well, you fool. While outside of the base, I was able to defend myself against a speeding meteor" His optics narrowed. "If that one huge space rock is even slightly above Optimus' strongest attack, with this shield I am invincible!"

Razor-Wind glanced over to the leader. He was comparing Optimus' fighting level to a meteor? Oh brother… If that was the case, then he barely knew Optimus' true abilities. "I don't want to speak out of line, _sir_. But there are other Autobots that will be on the field. That yellow one and that blue one were mighty fast in that last battle." He muttered.

Megatron looked over at the new edition of the team and smirked. "Hotshot and Blurr are of no importance to me. That's why I have you idiots to back me up" He pointed at the team. "You will keep those Autobots busy while I handle Optimus, is that understood?!"

"Yes, sir!"

Megatron grinned evilly. "Surely this will be the end of those Bleeding-spark Autobots" he growled pleasantly. 


	4. Tentativeness

**Reviews would be appreciated. I want to know what you like and don't like. **

**  
*******Autobot base****

Hotshot yelped as he dogged a few boards that were in his way. He HAD to get that flag! Not only would Blurr have bragging rights, he would also point it out to Scavenger. There was no WAY he was going to suffer that humiliation in front of the kids and the new girl.

Absolutely NOT!

A few more moves of dodge…duck…roll…

Almost there!!

He reached for the flag, but before he knew it, another hand grabbed it before he could even get his bearings. With a yelp, the Autobot landed on his face, and the Autobot standing over him gave the slightest of smiles behind his face mask.

"Nice try Hotshot…but I do believe the better of us has won" Blurr gloated.

"Aw maaan…" Hotshot muttered, embarrassment flooding the young mech. This was horrible. How could he live with himself now? Surely he could get his record back from this showoff…

From the other side of the room, Snow-Lilly stood in the corner, watching as the kids cheered for Blurr. After a small lecture, she was surprised that she had been let off the hook for wandering off earlier without Hotshot's or Blurr's say so…partly because Blurr was too busy lecturing Hotshot for not keeping an optic on the door.

The femme smiled lightly. This wasn't so bad so far…

"Good job Blurr!"  
"Way to go, dude!"

"He's really something else!"

"You kind of remind me of myself when I was workin' out more"

Blurr snorted softly and looked over at the ledge full of humans. "Somehow I find that hard to believe, Fred" he said, only slightly sarcastic, earning a nervous laugh from the boy.

"You had to go and embarrass me, huh?" Hotshot asked, rubbing his head slightly as he walked over. "I suppose you're not going to let this go for a couple of days are you?"

"Not likely" Blurr smirked at the young mech then turned his head as the door opened. Smokescreen walked in, a smile on his face. "Hey guys, having a good work out?" He asked, walking in and looking around. He gave a warm smile to the kids, who returned the favor to their old-timer friend.

"Yeah. Except Blurr cheats" Hotshot muttered, dusting himself off.

"You mind if I join in? I've been needing a good run"

Hotshot and Blurr paused and looked at Smokescreen with a look that almost clearly said 'are you kidding?'

"Well actually-"

"Maybe it would be better if an old timer like you stayed to the sides…unless of course…you feel you can handle it…wouldn't want to embarrass you or anything" Blurr walked past Smokescreen a little bit, then looked behind him, a challenging look in his optics.

"Hey!" Snow-Lilly got out of her relaxed stance and looked to Blurr a little bit serious. "Just because he's older, doesn't mean he can't kick your tail, B-" Snow-Lilly paused and quickly looked down as soon as Blurr's gaze was on her.

Smokescreen blinked a few times, then a small grin came to his face, before looking to Blurr with a twinkle in his optics. "Embarrass me, huh? Bring it on"

Blurr looked to Smokescreen then looked at the Minicons who controlled the course. "You heard 'im"

The Minicons obliged and set up the course, on which Smokescreen attempted to take down. While the elder mech went through grunts and groans of getting hit by metal boards and accidently bumping into some, his audience stood on the sidelines, watching his performance.

Hotshot leaned against the wall, feeling a little bit cooler about Smokescreen being on the course…that huge crane really didn't do him much support when it came to dodging things…He had to admit…that old guy was persistent and it was making him sweat a little bit.

Blurr watched coolly, a small smirk on his face seeing the mech stumble. This was rather entertaining.

"…Snow-Lilly"

The said femme gave a glance at the mech with a wince. A slight anticipation of scolding was making the girl hesitant. She really didn't mean to snap…but she really didn't like a quick judging…

"mm?"

"What you said about Smokescreen-"

"I'm sorry" she said quickly. "He's…been nice to me- I didn't want you putting him down. I didn't mean to talk back…"

"….why did you stop at all?" Blurr asked coldly.

Snow-Lilly was taken aback by those words. What did he mean 'why did she stop'? Surely she stopped because she saw it as being disrespectful…right?

"HAHA! In your face!!"

The attention was drawn back to Smokescreen, who now waved the flag in the air, laughing in triumph. Hotshot groaned and hid his hands in his face. No! How could he be beaten by Smokescreen of all guys?! It was the end of the world as he knew it!!

"Looks like Smokescreen 'smoked' you Hotshot" Blurr sneered.

"Way to go Smokescreen!" Alexis called from the ledge. The girl looked to Snow-Lilly quickly. "Hey, how about you try to beat that record, Snow?" The femme being talked to cast a uncertain gaze towards the human girl. "You look like you could beat that record. I mean your alt mode is sleeker and you don't have as much armor as the guys to slow you down" Alexis continued.

"Thanks a lot Alexis" Hotshot looked up slightly.

The girl grinned over at Hotshot. "Aw come on Hotshot. She hasn't gotten to train all that much except with Scavenger this morning. Don't you think you guys should train with her?"

Snow-Lilly fidgeted at the recognition…she had indeed trained with Scavenger this morning…but he was only showing her the ropes, and she couldn't get a good upper hand against him…he was too experienced to fall for rookie tricks. He had advised her to stop being so tense and focus on what she would do, rather than what he would do.

He was rather nice…stern but nice, but she hadn't said one word to him…he was a commander after all…

"How about it?"

…

"Huh?" Snow-Lilly looked up, finding Smokescreen's hand offered to her. The kind-sparked mech was smiling at her in an inviting way. "You vs. me, like the kids suggested."

When did that conversation take place?

"Well…I-"

WHIIRR WHIIRRR!!

"Autobots, report immediately! We're receiving a Minicon signal!" Optimus' voice said over the com.

"Alright! We get some real action!" Carlos grinned. "We'll sure get that Minicon now!"

"Need I remind you that now the Decepticons have both the major weapons?" Alexis crossed her arms at the boy slightly, then ran off to go see what would be determined.

"Hey I'm just trying to look at the bright side!" The boy yelled after her, as the group of humans followed suit.

"Well you heard the little brats, let's go" Blurr said, running out of the door. Hotshot paused and growled.

"Hey! Take that back!" the yellow mech yelled, running after Blurr, Smokescreen not far behind. "Those 'brats' are my friends!"

Snow-Lilly watched them, then ran out the larger door, catching up with Smokescreen, who had slowed down enough for her.

He glanced over and smiled at the femme, who quickly looked away, trying not to make optic contact. Her shyness was made note of, but wasn't approached, for they had entered the room just in time to find out what strategy Optimus was making for this battle…

It would be a tough one…that was for sure…The leader didn't want to risk taking the kids at all…

"Alright, Autobots, listen carefully." The Autobot leader turned to face his troops. "The Decepticons obviously are going to be ready for us, since they have both of the major weapons. No matter what comes in our way, we've got to get to the Minicon before they do."

"Understood" Most of the mechs in the room replied.

Optimus looked over his troops…it would be a good idea to split them up since the Decepticons would no doubt be trying to scatter them…maybe they instead could scatter them… but how? There were six of them and he had seven soldiers…

And chances were Megatron would have Optimus to himself…Better go over it once they got there…

"Watch it, Smokescreen! You're gonna hit me, you jerk…" Hotshot ducked as Smokescreen revolved his crane around in enthusiasm.

"Who said you're coming Hotshot?" Blurr peered over, sneering behind his mask. As much as he had learned that conversing wasn't so bad, he still had trouble working with others…

Which Scavenger called him on immediately…

"Should I remind you that we are a team, therefore we work as a TEAM?" The experienced veteran scolded the younger mech. Blurr scoffed at the small lecture. "Whatever." He replied.

"Let's move out men!" Optimus ordered. At once, the mechs ran after the Autobot leader, all of them having mind to get this Minicon before the Decepticons could.

The purple femme stayed behind, watching them go. She put her hands behind her back and looked to the side slightly. Maybe she could just keep guard here…

"Hey- didn't you hear him?" Carlos blinked at the femme. "He said 'let's move out'" The boy pointed at the door that the mechs had just run out of. Snow-Lilly looked down to the Hispanic boy and smiled slightly. "He said 'Let's move out _men_'" she answered quietly.

"Yeah- shouldn't be with them?"

No answer came from the femme, but she did look away from the questioning kids.

"…Oh! Snow-Lilly, I'm sure he's just used to having an all male team" Alexis said quickly. "Why don't you join them?"

"I've already blew it once, honey" Snow-Lilly looked to the girl, a worried look in her optics. "I'm not going to be looked upon as-"

"Snow-Lilly, we're all waiting on you, solider." Red-Alert radioed, sounding calm but urgent.

"You're kidding…" The femme winced. She did NOT want to get caught in the middle of this. Her hesitation was interrupted by a tap. She looked down, seeing Rad smiling up at her. "Give it another chance, Snow. Your team is waiting on you"

The purple femme gazed at the human, before giving a small nod, then she ran out of the room to join her awaiting comrades. Quickly sliding into the warping room, she found everyone transformed and ready for warp.

"Glad to have you join us" Optimus said softly. "Now let's get going" With that much said, the semi-truck warped out.

Scavenger, Hotshot and Red-Alert followed suit. The femme quickly transformed into her purple car mode and got near to Blurr.

"If you've cost us that Minicon…" The sniper muttered.

"He didn't ask for me" she replied. "He asked for you men"

That much shared between them, the remaining three Autobots warped out to their destination.

Once in place, Optimus transformed and looked around. The terrain was filled with moss covered trees, ground, and water everywhere. "Well at least there's cover…but it doesn't look like this will be an easy place to be in vehicle mode."

Red-Alert transformed and scanned the area. "…This area's called a bayou…it's similar to a swamp, so I believe Optimus maybe right about vehicles…"

"Lovely." As the rest of the Autobots transformed, Hotshot crossed his arms and looked around. "I was planning on driving all over Sideways' treacherous hide."

Optimus looked to his troops. "We have to find that Minicon. Men, I'm going to be assigning partners to you since the Decepticons have gotten out of hand. Scavenger, You and Red-Alert check out the east sector. Hotshot? Blurr? You both will go west."

Hotshot glanced at Blurr slightly, then nodded. "Yes sir" they both chorused.

Scavenger and Red-Alert nodded as well.

Optimus glanced over at Smokescreen and Snow-Lilly…"You two will be coming with me." He ordered. Smokescreen nodded and grinned. "Yes sir" He replied. This would be good getting a chance to show the kid the ropes.

"Move out men!" Optimus ordered.

"Yes, sir!"

One by one, the Autobots headed out…Except once he took a few steps, Optimus saw that Smokescreen was following…but Snow-Lilly was rooted in her spot as though he had never given an order.

"…Snow-Lilly? Did you hear me?" He asked in an urgent tone. "Let's go"

Snow-Lilly gave a small sigh as the two mechs pushed on and slowly followed them. Mechs couldn't make up their minds could they?

****Elsewhere****

Lodged in the trunk of a tree, a soft glowing was blinking…on…off…on…off…

The sight was enough to draw a slow gator to the light and snap at the tree…then spit out the two panels onto the bayou floor.

The disturbance caused the two panels to glow brightly and activate…

The first figure was gray, and average. He landed on the ground and saw his reflection in the water…his visor glowed and his body was ready for action. It looked like he transformed into a wider race car…very sleek looking… The Minicon paused and looked behind him, where the light was dimming.

A blue Minicon stood, his optics powering on. His joints were stiff and his complexion looked stressed. Either way he was a sleek looking Minicon…his wings resembled Grindor's only with jets at the end of each wing and a different paint job…there were red and yellow markings on him and on his chest sat a Minicon insignia shaded green. His insignia was different however…it was highlighted in blue.

The grey Minicon stood up and faced the other, then saluted.

_Commander…Officer Thunderbolt reporting for duty, sir._

The blue Minicon looked over then his optics flashed. _At ease…so…we landed did we? Why aren't we in the ship?_

_I recall Sub-commander Highwire setting emergency landing last time we were online, sir._ The grey Minicon looked around him-self. This planet was far different from Cybertron…

_…That's right…I remember…huh?_

The two Minicons looked up. There were noises in the distance. Without another word, the Blue Minicon frowned and motioned Thunderbolt to follow him, which the order was obeyed. Once they looked through some thick brush, they gasped and quickly hid.

_Decepticons…_ The blue Minicon growled. _I thought we got rid of those creeps._

_What should we do Commander?_

"Spread out Men, Those wretched Minicons can't be too far from here."

"Yes sir!" Was the reply.

The Minicon in blue peeked out, watching the Decepticons spread out, wading in the thick water. One of the Decepticons headed in their direction, and completely passed them. Once he was out of range both of the Minicons let out a breath of relief.

Thunderbolt looked to his commander for orders. The lead Minicon, however, was obviously trying to come up with a way to get away from here…He looked to his soldier and pointed in a direction. _Head that way. That's the only way I didn't see a Decepticon._The blue Minicon narrowed his eyes slightly._ I will not lose a soldier to them!_

But what about you, sir?

I'm going to head in the direction of Megatron. I thought I saw the Star-saber Minicons with him. He must be holding them hostage. I'm going to get them away.

But- sir that dangerous!

That's why I'm not sending you. Now go!

But-

That's an order!

Thunderbolt was silent for a few seconds before he saluted. _Yes Commander Orkono_. With that, the grey Minicon turned and headed in the opposite direction as ordered.

The commander stayed behind and looked to the side. Suddenly he powered on his jets and went after Megatron.

***A***

"I think you're starting to act a bit like a jerk again, Blurr" Hotshot said as they walked together, both looking down at the trees and the water. "Those kids are anything but brats."

"They're still kids." Blurr frowned. "I've had to deal with too much of that. I've had to deal with sparklings my whole life"

Hotshot glanced at Blurr. "You have a sparkling? What fem in their right mind would go for you?"

"Watch it" Blurr looked over. "I have no bond mate. I just said I've dealt with sparklings."

"So what? You've had to babysit? How many?"

"Two" Blurr looked to his side and froze.

"Two huh? What'd they do to tick yah-"

"Shh! It's the Minicon!"

Hotshot paused and looked over to where Blurr was looking. Sure enough, a grey Minicon was running in the bayou, not a hundred feet away! "Well that was easy"

"Maybe too easy, Hotshot" Blurr looked around tensely. Where were the Decepticons?

"Aw common" Hotshot went past Blurr and headed over. "Hey! Hey little guy!"

Thunderbolt paused his running and spun around to the sound. His optics widened in fear and he quickly tried to look for another way out.

"Slow down, little buddy, we're the good guys!" Hotshot motioned to his insignia and smiled. "We won't hurt'cha-"

BOOOM!!

"ACK!!"

"But HE might!" Blurr growled, aiming his rifle at a newly arrived Starscream, who had his sword out and was scowling.

"Thanks for finding the Minicon for me, Auto-scum" He rasped, running up and slashing at the two Autobots. They fell back with recoil and attempted to get up. Starscream turned, seeing Thunderbolt…well…bolt for it. However, he couldn't get very far, for now he was in the water.

Seeing the Minicon's disadvantage, the seeker swiped at the Minicon and caught him by the leg. Thunderbolt gasped and screamed when he was brought dangling up. Starscream growled and grinned. "Finally, Megatron will see that I'm not as worthless as the others."

"Let him go!" Hotshot yelled, sitting up and firing at Starscream's arm. Thunderbolt yelped as he was dropped to the ground and landed roughly on his back. The Minicon lay there for a while as a shock to his system from the fall paralyzed him…why didn't he transform as he fell?

While the Minicon berated himself, the two Autobots and the Decepticon started a battle. Shots rang out and blaster lasers missed targets. Oh please don't hit me….

Starscream growled and swung his sword at the two Autobots, missing when the two dodged in two different directions. Growling, Blurr shot at Starscream's back as the seeker stumbled for balance. "Hotshot! Grab the Minicon and find Optimus! I'm right behind you"

"I'm on it!" The yellow mech nodded and he turned to go to the Minicon's aid. "Don't worry little buddy, you're in good hands no- URCK!!"

Hotshot was sent flying through some trees and right SPLASH into the water. Hotshot surfaced and shook his head quickly from water then looked up. Razor-Wind stood in the bayou, smirking at the young Autobot, his optics eyeing the fresh streak of mech fluid that was trickling out of Hotshot's mouth.

"I remember you" Razor-Wind cooed. "The one who couldn't hold onto that stupid Minicon while you lay on your back…heh"

Hotshot growled and stood up. "You know you're sure full of yourself, aren't cha, sleazy con?"

"Heh heh." Razor-Wind chuckled softly. "I love young soldiers. They're my favorite to get rid of" His optics narrowed. "I love a good scream for mercy"

"Yeah? Well you're NOT getting it!" Hotshot seethed. "Jolt! Power-link!"

With assorted movements the Autobot power-linked to his Minicon, and a visor came down as did a canon from behind. He landed and shot at Razor-Wind without hesitation. The Decepticon winced as a strong blast threw him into some trees.

Starscream looked back slightly while struggling with Blurr…that punk…who did he think he was? He did NOT need his help, and it looked as though he wasn't going to get any lee-way even if he DID want help.

As Starscream was distracted, Blurr punched him across the face, which caused the Decepticon to fall on the ground with a grunt. With a yell, Blurr put his fists together and started send his fists together to sock one on Starscream. Looking up, Starscream paused for not even a second, then slid-kicked him as he had done to Cyclonus that morning.

Blurr fell to the ground and rolled to attempt to get up. But when he was on his back, he found Starscream's blade aiming at his middle. Blurr panted and didn't move.

"I'm coming Blurr!" Hotshot called, forgetting about the Minicon, and running to his friend's aid…

SLASH!!

Hotshot froze, mouth slightly agape as a sharp sting was felt in his shoulder…looking to his right, a sharp blade was sticking out of his shoulder, electricity surging and sparking from the wound.

Starscream and Blurr both looked over, shocked as Hotshot fell to his knees, clutching his wound in agony. Behind him, Razor-Wind stood, glaring at the wounded Autobot. A smirk came to his face. "Never turn your back on me, kid" he growled pleasantly, enjoying the sweet sound of Hotshot's groaning and cries of pain.

"Hotshot!" Blurr yelled, attempting to get up, but Starscream forced him down with his blade, glaring at the blue Autobot. "Stay down, Autobot" The seeker growled lowly.

Looking at Starscream's situation, Razor-Wind smirked even more. "Very good Starscream" He commended. "You're not second in command for nothing are you?"

The seeker glared at him as he spoke, wondering what he was getting at.

Razor-Wind's optics narrowed dangerously as a wicked grin came to his face. "Finish him"

**D**

Megatron growled as he turned around, trying to find the little creep. "Get out here, you little fool!" He roared angrily, trying to determine where that blasted Minicon went. Someone had started shooting at him out of no-where…he managed to get the shield together, but when he had called for the Star-saber…only two Minicons were with him. When he looked, he saw a rouge Minicon dragging Jetstorm into the brush.

"I do not want to repeat myself, you foolish Minicon…get out here…and I won't harm you" Megatron looked around, optics narrowing. "…much…"

As the Decepticon leader seethed, in the brush and trees of the Bayou, the Minicon was looking out, scowling. _Blast…he has the Skyboom shield TOO?! How am I going to live with myself now?  
_  
The Minicon Commander took a few steps back, then looked over to his rescued Minicon, Jetstorm, who looked uneasy. _What's going on? Why are you and your team-_

Commander Orkono…you're…under arrest…

The Minicon commander paused as he saw Jetstorm's gun aim at him. A scowl came to Orkono's face. _What are you DOING, soldier? You're acting like a-_ The Commander paused as realization hit him like a brick that had fallen but wasn't felt until later. He growled. _A Decepticon's Minicon…_

_I'm sorry sir-…I had no say in the matter!_

Sure you did! And you still do, soldier! Orkono took a few steps up, his expression seeming to soften. _You're with me now, and you know I won't let those Decepticons use you! I won't let ANYONE use you!_

Yeah…that's what Hotshot promised…

Hotshot?

"There you are you little pest" A voice boomed over them. Orkono tensed and gasped, seeing Megatron loom over him, scowling. "Sonar, Jetstorm, Runway." A simple command and the three Minicons flew into the air, forming the Star-saber.

Orkono gaped and took a few steps back…Megatron had control of his soldiers!!

Megatron took one step up, sizing the Minicon and fixing to strike…that was…until he took a good look at his Minicon insignia on his chest…the insignia of the commander…A slow wicked smile came to his face.

"Why Commander Orkono…so nice to see you again"

Orkono took a few steps back and scowled. NOT. GOOD…

"Decepticons, fall into my position, I have the Minicon in my sight!" Megatron all but purred.

"Do you, now? What a coincidence…so do we." Razor-Wind's voice replied over the com-link.

"What?" Megatron paused and looked to the side. "Impossible!"

_Thunderbolt!_ Orkono growled, turned heel and ran as fast as he could, then powered on his jets, intent on getting his soldier out of harm's way.

Megatron growled as the Minicon flew away and fired a few blasts, before starting a chase. "Blast! Where are those incompetent fools when I need them?!"

***D**

"What are you waiting for, Starscream?" Razor-Wind crossed his arms expectantly. "Get on with it."

Starscream stared at his teammate with disbelief. He half expected Razor-Wind to just snatch the Minicon and call off a retreat…but judging from that last transmission, there were TWO Minicons…

A tense feeling was in the air as Starscream lifted Blurr up and then swiftly sent his knee into the mech's stomach, instead of his sword. With a sharp groan, Blurr was on his knees. The mech growled and kept his optics on Starscream's feet…what he saw made him stay still, his optics narrowing slightly.

Starscream paused at the action…why was this Autobot so still? Surely he wasn't going to just LET him- URCK!

Starscream let out a yell as a vehicle slammed into his side and caused him to fly into the air, and splash into the water. Razor-Wind gaped for a second, he didn't expect that. Turning, he saw a rescue vehicle skid to a stop and transform…

…Well hello there…

Red-Alert quickly ran to Blurr's side to check on his comrade, then looked over, noticing that Hotshot was doing his best to get Razor-Wind's blade out of his shoulder. "Hotshot!!" the medic yelled. "Don't touch that!! You'll make it worse!"

That's the idea, Autobot… Razor-Wind took a few steps up, drawing his second blade out. A faint sound of a helicopter was heard heading towards them…great joy…Maybe he could get something done before those idiots showed up.

"Hey medic" Razor-Wind stooped down, snatching the Minicon Thunderbolt who was still recovering from that nasty fall. Thunderbolt let out a yelp as the rough mech closed his hand around him and brought him up.

Red-Alert looked over and growled. What was he going to do? Knowing Decepticons, they would either threaten or-

"Think fast"

With a swift movement, Razor-Wind threw Thunderbolt mercilessly at the Autobot medic. Red-Alert gasped and in a flurry of movements, got up and ran towards where he calculated the Minicon would land…however right when he almost had Thunderbolt safely in his hand, a well placed shot to his chest was made and the Medic fell to his back.

Thunderbolt landed roughly on the fallen Autobot's body. He struggled to get up and attempt to get out of this battle field…if the Commander knew he was in the heat of things…

His thoughts were cut off when Razor-Wind loomed over himself and Red-Alert. The Decepticon was grinning evilly as though he was having fun…FUN!? HOW could he be having fun when there was so much pain going on?! The Minicon shut his optics down as the mech reached for him…

But the sound of a blast hitting metal was heard and it drove the Minicon's curiosity up. Looking around, he saw Razor-Wind had landed on his back, on top of Starscream. Shooting a look to the opposite side he saw a glimmer of hope…Optimus and two other soldiers had joined the battle…and boy was Optimus mad.

"Razor-Wind. Starscream. If you had enough sense, you'd leave now" Optimus warned, not exactly thrilled that his soldiers were in the shape that they were in at the moment.

"Oh, is that so?" Razor-Wind threw Starscream away from him and stood up. "I beg to differ, the fun has JUST started."

Before any move could be made, the psycho copter-bot made his way to the scene, laughing insanely and shooting everything that moved. Not far behind, Sideways and Demolisher came in, ready for battle, and ready to capture the Minicon.

Optimus looked around him, a scowl coming to his face. This was not what he had in mind when he had planned to split up…better not worry about that now…all that mattered now was getting these Decepticons away from his soldiers and that Minicon.

Speaking of that Minicon, Thunderbolt was startled when Red-Alert sat up and shook his head slightly, studying the situation. Blurr was recovering and getting ready to fight, Optimus, Smokescreen and Snow-Lilly had just arrived, and if memory served correctly, Scavenger was not far behind.

Hopefully this would work…Red-Alert looked to the Minicon on his knee and gently scooped him up in his hand, careful not to injure him than what he already was. Thunderbolt wobbled a bit, and out of reaction, attempted to get away, but was gently comforted by the Autobot.

"It's alright. You will not be harmed as long as I'm around" Red-Alert assured. "Please don't move, you're injured."

No duh… Thunderbolt grimaced, glancing at the Autobot…this Autobot…wasn't he one of the ones who helped aid the Minicons during their escape from Cybertron? He wasn't all that sure…

Optimus studied his surroundings…Where was Megatron?

"Smokescreen, take care of Cyclonus. If you confuse his optic sensors, there will be plenty of cover for us." Optimus ordered.

"I'm on it, sir" Smokescreen nodded and ran to get to a good place to get a shot.

"Men!" Optimus turned towards his willing soldiers. "Focus your fire on the land Decepticons!"

"Yes sir!" Blurr and Red-Alert stood and got ready for battle. Red-Alert set down Thunderbolt and gave him a stern look. "Find a safe place and STAY there, got it? We'll cover you"

Thunderbolt hesitated, then did as told, running for the brush, then looking out, watching the battle ensue. Optimus was in combat with Razor-Wind while the rest of the able Autobots were handling Demolisher, Cyclonus and Sideways. Starscream was down so far…but it looked like he was recovering. A newly arrived Autobot had joined, transforming out of his bulldozer mode and slamming Demolisher to the ground as he tried to fire on the still in agony Hotshot…

Snow-Lilly hadn't recalled being given any orders from her view, so instead, she watched Smokescreen take off, and then took it upon herself to check on Hotshot. Once she got to the mech, she kneeled back and tried to touch him. He was seriously in pain, that much was obvious…

"Hotshot?" she hesitated…a strange sound was emitting from the mech's system.

"Get it…get it out…" He whimpered, glancing at her. "Get it out…"

Snow-Lilly winced and put a hand on his shoulder…this thing was wedged into his armor but good…a shudder came to the femme's body…just looking at the mech's wound made her want to faint…She had heard war stories, and seen the aftermath of a serious battle…

She just never thought that she would be living one…

***M***

Orkono kept flying, his jets at top mach… that word with Jetstorm sent a slight furry into his spark…how could a Minicon turn on their own kind…it reminded him of the stories that were told to him by-…

He shook it off and frowned…he wasn't going to think of that now…that was in the past…and right now, a soldier needed his help…he could see the battle from here…great…he was practically leading Megatron to the battle, wasn't he?

As long as he could get his soldier out of there…that was all that mattered right now…

The Minicon forced himself to stop as he looked over the battle…The Decepticons were brawling with the Autobots and it looked like the Autobots were out gunned…A thought crossed him…those Autobots DID help his team get away from Cybertron…But he also needed to help Thunderbolt…

He frowned and his optics glowed a bright red, scanning the area…after looking around a bit he finally spotted him. Thunderbolt was hiding in the brush, close to where that wounded Autobot and that other one were…

His optics returning to their regular amber, the commander looked over his shoulder…yep, here he came, as ugly as ever!

Quickly doing a sky dive, Orkono did his best to avoid the fight and get to his soldier…

**d**

Megatron saw the Minicon do the nose dive and ran even faster…that was until he ran straight SMACK into Demolisher, who was avoiding Scavenger's blaster.

"M-Megatron, sir!"

"GET OFF OF ME!!" The Decepticon leader roared. Getting to his feet, he glared at his soldier. "Get BACK in there, you imbecile! Look for that Minicon!" Megatron's optics narrowed at the scene…his troops out numbered them…then WHY were those Autobots still standing?!

Cyclonus had been grounded of flight and was currently in a brawl with Smokescreen…Sideways and Starscream were shooting Red Alert and Blurr…There was Scavenger, who just discovered Megatron's presence…Where was-

OOOOFFF!!

Megatron found himself once again on the ground, as Razor-Wind was thrown into him. The sleek blade barer growled and started to get up, before Megatron all but hurled him aside and glared daggers at Razor-Wind, before turning, seeing the mech responsible.

Optimus stopped his running forward, seeing Megatron, and scowled behind his mask. "Fashionably late, Megatron?" he prodded, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

Megatron frowned and rose the Star-saber. "Oh on the contrary, Prime. I'm never late for anything"

"Really? Could've fooled me"

Megatron growled and lunged for Optimus, who quickly dodged his attacks. Optimus knew that when Megatron had the shield AND the sword, it sure didn't help him much. Megatron was swinging the sword like there was no tomorrow…and Optimus wasn't sure if he could win this one.

Razor-Wind stood up from where he landed and frowned. Fine…you want Optimus, have at it. He was bruising my ego anyway. The mech scowled and looked around…there had to be SOMETHING fun to do…everyone HAD somebody now…Even Demolisher was in combat once again with Scavenger…

I do NOT want to resort to looking for that stupid Mini-…

As his thoughts paused, he noticed two small figures near the brush…close to the wounded Autobot and his would-be helper…

Me? Attack the weak and vulnerable?...that's for amateurs…no…I'm going to do something far worse…

As the mech approached the duo, Snow-Lilly had long since decided that she was not strong enough to gently pry the blade from the hurting Autobot. He had gotten weaker, and he had given up talking for whimpering…it just hurt too much to talk…

"Hotshot…stay online, ok?" she begged, trying to find at least SOMETHING in her stupid sub-space to help. But what? She couldn't stand looking at his optics…she knew he was depending on her, but she just…couldn't do anything…And his optics…looked just like-…

Hearing something behind her, she looked up quickly…were those…the…

"Minicons?" Snow-Lilly paused and watched them intently. They were watching the scene, and looked like they were debating. "Pleas- Please help him!" The femme quickly pleaded. "I need your help!" With a desperate look, the femme saw the two Minicons look to each other, then ran over.

Once they were over there, Orkono studied the blade and narrowed his optics…that thing was huge…but nothing his jets couldn't handle. He looked to Thunderbolt, took something out of his subspace and tossed it to him. _As SOON as that blade is out, insert that chip in. It'll do the rest._

Yes sir!

Orkono flew up and put his arms around the blade and paused for a second, before he put his jets on full throttle. Hotshot let out a scream as the Minicon did this, causing Snow-Lilly to grit her teeth. Quickly the femme took one of the mech's hands and frowned. "Don't worry-…I'm here…I'm not going to leave your side ok?"

As Orkono finally got the blade out, Thunderbolt quickly inserted the chip into the Mech's shoulder. The feeling in that arm went away and Hotshot gritted his teeth, shutting off his optics. "AH for slaggin- this is a death sting I tell yah! Wha- OW!" Hotshot yelped and paused and looked over, slightly moving his arm…it was moving. "Hey- How'd you do that?" Hotshot sat up and examined himself…even though his wound was still there, his arm was functioning. Bad part was there were occasional sharp stings in his shoulder.

_Don't move Autobot._ Orkono frowned slightly. _Wait for your Autobot team to look at you properly._

"But-…It feels fine- well kinda." Hotshot winced at the sharp pain.

"It feels fine dose it? Well I'll change that"

Hotshot gasped and turned, seeing Razor-Wind scowling at them. The Minicons took a few steps back, Orkono scowling, getting in front of Thunderbolt protectively. Hotshot tried to do the same, putting an arm in front of the Minicons. "Back off Decepti-creep! These Minicons are under Autobot protection!"

"Oh I'm so scared." Razor-Wind muttered, backhanding the Autobot away and quickly grabbing the two Minicons in his hands. "So…all this trouble for you creeps huh? You can NOT be worth this much trouble…"

"Let them GO!"

Punch! Kick! Slam!

Razor-Wind slowly looked down from holding the Minicons, dangling in his grip, to the now active Femme who was launching attacks on the bigger and stronger mech. Razor-Wind smirked and grabbed her by the neck then lifted her up a foot off of the ground. "Don't worry darling, I'll dance with you later."

Roughly, he threw her aside and smirked, activating his com-link. "I've got the stupid Minicons. Let's get on with it…"

Snow-Lilly yelped as she hit the ground and looked up. Without thinking, she whipped out her gun and shot at the Decepticon right as he warped out, hitting his hand in the process. Orkono fell out, avoiding the warp, and in a quick motion, Snow-Lilly caught the Minicon.

_Thunderbolt!_ Orkono yelled, as his soldier disappeared out of sight. The only thing he heard was the sound of other Decepticons warping…

Snow-Lilly got up and held the shocked Minicon daintily, before looking over to Hotshot, who was getting up with difficulty. "H-Hold on" she said, taking a few steps up. "Wait till Smokescreen gets here…"

"I got it…I…got-…ACK!" Hotshot only fell flat on his face in the mud. Snow-Lilly blinked as he pushed himself up until he was sitting up, his blue optics shining through the dark blob of grossness on his metal face.

The femme bit her lip gently and let out a snort at the sight, before she heard footsteps behind her. Turning around, the femme stayed rooted in her spot as Red-Alert walked by and attended to Hotshot. The other Autobots seemed a bit wore out, although Scavenger and Smokescreen were grinning due to the trick they had played on Cyclonus and Demolisher. Seeing those two punch each other in the face was more than funny.

"Is Hotshot going to be ok?" Blurr finally asked as the group seemed to stare at Red-Alert helping the young mech up.

"He needs to be back at the base…but other than that, he'll survive." Red-Alert draped on of Hotshot's arms around his shoulders to keep him up. Hotshot looked to the side. "You know I can do it myself." He muttered lowly.

"Can you now?" Scavenger asked. "Then why aren't you up and ready to go, then?"

Hotshot paused and made a very childish face at the veteran.

"Snow-Lilly?"

The femme tensed and turned to the side slightly, Optimus looking at her and the Minicon in her hand. "I see you've rescued the Minicon. Good work." The leader smiled behind his facemask. Her reaction was slowly moving back, closer towards Blurr. The Minicon in her hands seemed to be becoming aware of the company now, since he had come to the conclusion that he couldn't do anything for his soldier right now…

"hmm…" He looked towards the bayou where there were fresh marks of a battle…disturbing the natural beauty of the land. With a sigh, the Leader looked to his troops. "Let's get back and get repaired."

***m***

**Review Please!  
**


	5. Friends

**Today is my Birthday, so I decided to put up this chapter to celebrate! Reviews will be appreciated. Enjoy!**

***D***

Sideways kept his optics narrowed as he watched Cyclonus and Demolisher fight over the restoration chamber. Those two were the biggest idiots he had ever met…no one got dumber than them…not even those bratty kids from the Autobot base.

He remembered being with the Autobots for a week…they trusted anyone who went on their team…it made him wonder if those two new additions were readily accepted as well…Those Autobots were WAY too gullible…

Of course…the Decepticons weren't fairing all that well either…hah…soon as he betrayed Hotshot-…

…Why is he staring at me?...

The turncoat's attention was brought to the new edition, who was looking in his direction, looking thoughtful and stern at the same time. Razor-Wind was leaning against the wall on the other side of the room, and looked as though he would like nothing more than to have a brawl right then and there…only the fact that he still had to earn Decepticon trust was keeping him from doing so…

Sideways frowned behind his facemask…ever since he came, he had been watching him…it had made it harder to make reports…The turncoat wasn't happy about this new guy…

Lucky for the Motorcycle, the sleek Decepticon's attention finally turned to the Minicon that was clutched in his hand, struggling all he could…it was futile though…the mech was far stronger…besides, this was rather…entertaining to watch the poor thing screaming for the commander that they had left on earth long ago.

Razor-Wind smirked and finally squeezed his hand so tightly, the Minicon couldn't move or process properly. Thunderbolt made strange noises while his main internal computer flashed a warning over his visor…this…this wasn't fair!! He couldn't get out!

A smirk came to Razor-Wind's face, before he completely opened his hand, letting the Minicon drop to the ground roughly, immediately sending the Minicon into stasis. "Humph…not much of a struggle" the sleek mech muttered.

"Hey, don't destroy the little guy" Cyclonus looked over from pushing Demolisher to the ground. "They give a good power boost!" The copter-bot motioned to the weak form at Razor-Wind's feet. "Just let a Decepticon who KNOWS what they're doing take that thing for a ride"

Razor-Wind chuckled lightly, glaring at Cyclonus, but a smirk was on his face. "You think I would really let you have my toy? As if, crazy one." Razor-Wind leaned down and picked up the still Minicon by the foot and smirked. "So…power boosts, you say?"

"Yeah…for us true Decepticons" Demolisher frowned, standing up.

"HAH!" Razor-Wind pointed an accusing finger at the bumbling, yet fiercely loyal Decepticon. "Don't get me STARTED, you reject! I happen to be the one who's brought back these little freaks to the base. TWICE in a row!!" The Decepticon's optics narrowed. "Back on Cybertron, LOTS of soldiers would love to be you three. Fighting alongside Megatron and getting a taste of combat. But seeing you guys in action has been for naught." He smirked and took out a blade with his free hand. "Our 'heroes' are nothing but rookies WISHING to be fighting material!"

Demolisher growled and clenched his fists. "How DARE you!"

Taking a few steps up, Cyclonus got his guns ready, smirking, hoping that they could kick this rookie's butt and make him think twice about saying stuff like that in the future. "So, you think you're better, do yah, punk?" The copter-bot grinned. "Let's test that theory."

"Oh Please, psycho-bot" Razor-Wind grinned at Cyclonus. "If a FEMME can beat you, how much easier can I!?"

"Why you-!"

"ENOUGH!!"

The arguing Decepticons stopped their argument and looked over to a newly arrived Megatron, who was looking rather ticked at what he was seeing. The soldiers were a bit hesitant, but seeing how angry the Decepticon leader was, they were quick to pull together and stood straight.

Megatron walked in and glared at each of the soldiers one-by-one. "You all waste your energy over these petty arguments…" he snarled. "Do you WANT me to pull you apart?!"

There came no answer from the room, but it was obvious that they weren't too thrilled at the idea. Megatron slowly walked to the other side of the room and sat on his throne, a glare still in his optics. "I will hear no more of this…get used to your team and LIKE it! How can you fight each other, when I'm so close to destroying those blasted Autobots?!"

The Decepticon leader glared over at Razor-Wind and sneered. "And you…I would have expected you to know who your superiors are…with the commander YOU were under, you should have learned that."

Razor-Wind didn't answer, but he did frown. Stellar cycles of being under the command of that cone head sure taught him a lot, but that commander was so…arrogant…

Megatron watched him for a while before looking to the rest of his troops and a smirk came to his face. Looking back on that battle…yes they got a Minicon who was unfortunately under Razor-Winds watch…But his thoughts were on the other Minicon…

The Commander of the Minicons…

Even though he had been rescued by the Autobots, the Decepticon leader couldn't help but grin…That Minicon would be caught…he knew how Orkono worked…where there was a soldier in trouble, he was not far behind…oh yes…that Minicon would be caught.

Life couldn't get much sweeter…first the Star-saber…then the Skyboom shield…Next, the Commander of the Minicons. The leader's optics narrowed. Those Autobots would be his…he could taste it.

Sideways looked to Megatron, noticing the smirk on his face, and turned to face him. "Sir…If I'm correct in thinking that you're going to be after that new Minicon…I would advise against it."

"Oh, would you now, Sideways? What makes you think that I care?"

"Sir, you have the Star-saber and the Skyboom shield. If you caught their Commander, it would be likely that the Minicons might revolt." Sideways took a slight step up. "Besides…That Minicon can cause trouble for BOTH teams. It would take a skilled warrior to-"

"Are you SUGGESTING that I am not skilled enough to handle Orkono?" Megatron's glare was fully on the turncoat now. "Perhaps I should show you what I AM capable of!"

"No!- uh, no sir! I'm merely thinking that-"

"Do yourself a favor, Sideways, and leave the thinking to me" Megatron growled.

"…Yes sir"

…And he wonders why the Decepticons haven't been fighting well…what an idiot… Sideways frowned behind his mask and glanced back. Razor-Wind was leaning against the wall, unconscious Minicon in his hands. He was staring at the ground, but a wicked smirk was on his face.

Something tells me that I'll need to be extra careful with this new idiot on the team…

***A***

"OOOWW!!!"

Hotshot's whining and yelping could be heard throughout the base…it was quite pathetic…every now and then you would hear the young Autobot yelling at Red-Alert to be easy on him…of course, with a blade wound, that wasn't easy…

Blade wounds were more complicated than blast wounds.

"Hotshot's acting like a baby" Billy grinned as he leaned against the wall, eating a slice of pizza. "I've heard my baby sister scream softer than him."

"Go easy on him" Alexis was pouring herself some water and stirred a slight bit of lemon juice into the drink. "He literally got backstabbed…I would imagine that he's in quite a bit of pain"

"No kidding." Rad looked at the cup of soda in his hand while he debated on getting another slice of pizza before Fred could get his grimy hands on it. "That was really scary watching. I thought he was a goner."

"Don't worry Rad" Nearby, Smokescreen was sitting, watching the kids affectionately. He had long ago assured the kids that Hotshot would be fine. He was also keeping an optic on the three Minicons of the Street action team who had discovered that Orkono was reunited with them. Smokescreen smiled and his attention was turned back to the kids. "I'm sure his ego is hurting more than his shoulder. That kid's ego is as big as the cork that needs to go in Scavenger's mouth when he's asleep."

The kids shared a laugh, before returning to their meal. Carlos kept glancing towards the Minicons every now and then…he was surprised at how well Grindor and the other two were getting along with this new Minicon…maybe they knew him.

The child's wonderings were correct, for the group were exchanging pleasantries.

Orkono was thrilled to see his trusted soldiers, and even more enthused at the fact that they, unlike Jetstorm, were still acting by protocol.

'Commander, we're so glad to know that you were not captured by the Decepticons' Highwire beeped nodding in respect. 'Once we saw the transmission-'

'Cut the sap' Orkono smiled lightly at his right hand bot. 'I'm fine and functional…although…' The commander looked down and his complexion went down. 'I'm only mad that I couldn't save Thunderbolt…'

Grindor took a step up and put a hand on the Minicon's shoulder. 'It's not your fault sir. You couldn't have stopped those Decepticons'

'I have caused disturbances within the Decepticon ranks back on Cybertron…knowing that I lost a trusted soldier to only a handful…' Orkono paused as Sure-shock took a step up.

'I know we'll get him back, Commander. Don't focus on the past, sir…that's not your style.' He sounded pleading, as though this wasn't easy for any of them.

Orkono frowned lightly, then a small smile managed to grace his face. 'No…it's not my style is it?' The Minicon straitened up and glanced towards the kids and Smokescreen. 'I guess your taste of company hasn't changed.' He remarked. 'Are you sure these Humans are trustworthy.'

'They are our good friends, Commander. They are trusted with our lives.' Highwire nodded, glancing at the kids, particularly Rad. 'I don't want harm to befall any of them.'

Orkono watched and smiled lightly. 'They will be protected if what you say is true…'

'Thank you Commander.' Highwire looked back at the blue Minicon and smiled behind his mask. 'You and your partner will love those kids'

The Commander paused at his words. 'Partner? I do not make partners with Autobots…Only Minicons.'

The street action team looked at one another then back to the Commander. 'Commander, Optimus has paired you up with the Autobot, Snow-Lilly…the one who saved you'

Orkono's mouth went slightly agape. '…I'm being paired with a ROOKIE?'

***A****

"I'm being paired with a Commander…"

Snow-Lilly sat on the ledge of the cliff, looking at the sunset. It's colors were beautiful, and the serene was soothing…but not soothing enough. The femme looked down at her knees and she folded her hands tightly as she sat…after they had got back, she had gone with Hotshot to make sure that He and Red-Alert were going to be fine…

She left quickly, but when she was headed to go see the kids…she overheard a conversation between the other Autobots…Apparently they felt that if Snow-Lilly were paired with a Minicon who was experienced, that she would get along better while fighting…

They never bothered to ask her if she wanted to fight at all…

"Snow-Lilly."

The femme gasped and quickly scrambled up and turned, seeing Scavenger behind her, a straight look on his face…this guy obviously knew how to keep his bearing…

"Optimus wants to talk with you on the double."

A grimace noticeably made itself onto the femme's face, and she fidgeted. Why would Optimus want- oh that's right…to pair her up with that Minicon…Nothing came out of her mouth…she wasn't going to talk to Scavenger…

She did manage a nod though to acknowledge that she had heard him. Scavenger really didn't find her lack of speech too assuring, but he did turn and lead her back into the base. As he walked, Snow-Lilly let the space between them get larger…she felt more comfortable when he was a good 100 ft away from her.

Once they got to the office, the femme stood still…before entering slowly, trying her best not to look at Scavenger. As she assumed attention stance, she did manage to notice how relaxed both Optimus and Scavenger were. As Optimus turned to look at her, a look of concern went into his optics when he saw how tense she was.

"Snow-Lilly…at ease, I'm not assigning you any daily duties just yet…" The kind leader assured. Despite this, the femme did not ease up. Optimus waited, before deciding that that was going nowhere. "Your actions during this last battle, and the fact that you had took it upon yourself to look after your team mate was commendable. And your bravery in rescuing the Minicon was noticed. We may have not gotten both Minicons, but with your help we rescued the Minicon Commander. Well done soldier"

Snow-Lilly didn't move, although a slight blush graced her face…she didn't really expect to be praised like this. Surprise was written in her optics as though she was expecting a lecture, not a pat on the back.

"I'm going to put you in charge of Orkono. He will be your Minicon partner from now on"

Great. Not only did she have to deal with mech Autobots, now she had to deal with a mech Minicon. Of course…it was too early to relax in her point of view…because the look in the Autobot Commander's optics told the femme that he was not done.

"However…"

Yep. That pretty much said it all…

"I have noticed that you have been avoiding my troops, save for Blurr…and there has been more than one instance where you are showing hesitation in following my orders." Optimus put his hands behind his back and waited for an answer.

None came…

"Snow-Lilly, I'm not attacking you. I just want to find out what we can do to resolve this issue-"

"Commander?" Red-Alert's voice came over the intercom. "I have something in here that you really should see immediately."

Optimus looked down and pressed his gauntlet. "On my way" Optimus looked up and motioned to Scavenger. "Assemble Rollout and Sparkplug. They'll need to be informed. Besides, I don't think they know that Orkono's here"

"Yes sir" Scavenger nodded and headed for the door, before looking at Snow-Lilly, who was glancing at the door nervously. "…You're dismissed, Snow-Lilly. We'll talk about this later."

"Yes Sir" She murmured, before heading for the door. Once she got to the door, she paused and looked back to Optimus, who had his back turned, reaching for a file.

"…You didn't ask for me" She finally said softly. "You asked for your troops"

That much said, she quickly left the room, hoping to find Blurr.

Optimus paused and turned, only seeing Scavenger at the door, watching the femme retreat as fast as she could without running. The mechs exchanged glances of confusion…Optimus HAD ordered the whole team…how could she say that he didn't ask for her?

***A***

Snow-Lilly finally reached a room and relaxed drastically. She could feel her circuits overheating just BEING in that room…Really…she knew with her being as tense as she was around mechs wasn't doing her much good when it came to the team…especially the commander…

She sighed lightly…why couldn't she just let that go?...

Snow-Lilly continued her walking, her thoughts drifting back to Cybertron…Being an Autobot was better than being a Decepticon…not that she ever was, but she saw how those idiots were…merciless…murderers…

…Rev…

An image of a yellow mech came to her mind…blaster in hand, and an image of a bird on his chest…an Autobot insignia newly on his shoulder and the widest grin imaginable on his face…

She could practically see him…strong, fast and ready for action…

Suddenly the femme was snapped out of her thoughts while commotion was heard in the next room. With a blink of curiosity, Snow-Lilly took a few steps into the room to see what was going on. Upon her arrival, she saw a huge mess. The table was knocked over, the chairs were out of place…and there was human food everywhere.

The femme's mouth hung open as she witnessed the humans and a couple of the Minicons engaging in a strange fight of throwing food at each other, all laughing or yelping in surprise…even that new Minicon…Orkono, was it? He was pouring chocolate over the head of Carlos, and had the largest grin imaginable…his face reminded her of-

"Kids, common!" Smokescreen laughed as he blocked a blob of ice cream from hitting his face. Some of his armor was covered with some of the junk. "Red-Alert's going to throw a fit when he sees this mess."

"Ah let 'im" Carlos managed to get away from the Minicon and lick some chocolate off his face. "There is NOTHING as good as this"

"Wha-…"

Snow-Lilly took a few steps in, getting a little attention. "What is all this about?"

"Fred started it!" Billy yelped, pointing at the larger human who was trying to salvage some of the fallen food. "He's been hogging the junk all day!"

"Well if you would leave me alone and let me have what's mine, I wouldn't have to take what's yours." Fred whined, standing.

"Knock it off guys" Alexis frowned, trying to wring her shirt out from the soda that she got drenched with.

"It's FRED's fault!" Billy growled.

"Is not!"

"Guys, knock it off!" Rad frowned, as Smokescreen helped him off of the boxes that he had somehow managed to scramble up, while the food fight was in its prime. The orange mech looked over Rad as he sat him down; making sure the boy wasn't too badly drained.

"If you would just leave me alone, this wouldn't have happened" Fred looked at Billy.

"Well if you would stop being such a pig and share once in a while, I wouldn't have pushed you!" Billy crossed his arms.

"It was mine!" Fred defended.

"Says who?"

"Says me!"

"Oh sure, says you. You know if you would stop being so STUPID, This base could get along effectively!" Billy shot out, making Fred pause. Surely he wasn't suggesting that everything that happened between the humans was his fault.

Fred had no comeback…usually these arguments did start with him and Billy…

Billy crossed his arms and grinned, watching Fred's astonished look, and sudden feel of self pity…He had won. Feeling this would be a good time to rub it in, Billy searched for some good insults…That was, before he suddenly lost his bearing and was failing. He was being lifted up into the air, thanks to Snow-Lilly.

Smokescreen paused as the femme took the human by the back of his shirt and held him up to optic level. The orange mech became tense. "Snow-Lilly- What are you doing? Put him down- gently!"

Snow-Lilly didn't oblige. She frowned and gave the human a good look of her dissatisfaction. "Billy…is it?...Apologize right now."

"I'm sorry!!...for what?" Billy blinked.

"Not to me, honey, to him" Snow-Lilly motioned to Fred who suddenly looked stunned. Was he being…defended?

"Wha- To Fred? But I was just messing with him!"

"I don't care…you hurt his feelings, honey, and that will be addressed…won't it?" Snow-Lilly frowned and gently sat Billy down, facing Fred. Billy glanced over at Snow-Lilly, who was watching intently.

Rad, Alexis and Carlos stood, staring in disbelief. All the months of being with the Autobots, they really hadn't seen the Autobots act so defective of others feelings. However, after a bit, Alexis actually approved of the situation…As soon as Billy apologized to Fred, she saw a glimmer of satisfaction and the friendliest smile that the femme had given them so far.

It was like nothing ever happened…

Smokescreen double-took…Snow-Lilly was interacting with the kids…far better than she was with her own team…and she seemed more comfortable…The elder mech seemed to realize that…these kids were probably not as threatening as a bunch of armed mechs…

The mech smiled…she was acting a lot like a mother correcting her sparklings.

"Hey Snow?"

Snow-Lilly looked over to Alexis who was smiling up at her. "How did you learn to talk to boys like that? I know they get annoying don't they?" The girl asked, fixing her hair a bit.

Snow-Lilly didn't answer her, but she did smile.

"You sure got told, didn't you dude?" Carlos grinned at Billy, who seemed rather humiliated. Carlos actually liked the fact that the former bully had to apologize to his own stooge…

"Hey Snow-Lilly, have you met Orkono yet?" Rad motioned to the said Minicon, who was wiping off some pepperoni and a small grin was on his face…he hadn't had this much fun in a while. However, upon hearing his name, the Minicon looked up at the femme…well rookie or not, she was cute…still…he didn't want to be paired up with an Autobot…maybe if he talked to Optimus, he would change his mind.

Snow-Lilly was watching Orkono however, her smile gone and replaced with a nervous look. She looked to Rad and shook her head slightly. "Not since the battle" she murmured lightly. The boy smiled at her then motioned over.

"Perfect time to get acquainted." He pointed out.

Snow-Lilly was silent, watching the Minicon Commander, who stared back at her in anticipation…if there was anything he knew it was let the lady talk first, no matter if they were lower rank or higher rank…

Snow-Lilly was the opposite…never speak before a mech…

After a moment of silence, Carlos finally broke in. "Will one of yah breathe at least? You're dulling the moment!"

Smokescreen chuckled at the boy's enthusiasm and looked to Snow-Lilly. "They don't bite, I assure you." He said soothingly. "What's wrong Snow?"

"Um…" The femme shook her head lightly and kneeled down a bit to get on a better level. "I'm-…I'm Snow-Lilly…n-nice to meet you, commander."

'Commander?' The Minicon blinked at the formality. Why would this Autobot be acknowledging him as Commander? 'The name is Orkono.' A small bow and a tiny smile. This femme was interesting.

"Orkono…you know that's a funny name" Carlos broke in again. "You got anything shorter?"

'Funny?' Orkono's attention turned from Snow-Lilly to the human, optics crazed with a small bit of humor. 'How is it funny?'

"Well, dude, you've got a different name than most of the Minicons we've met. Besides, 'Orkono' sounds…complicated. How 'bout 'Orko?'"

'Orko...' The Minicon Commander stayed still for a while, before a smile placed itself on his face. 'It's catchy, human'

"Name's Carlos"

'Fine then. I'm Orko.'

Snow-Lilly watched the conversation between Carlos and…Orko…it was really cute…Orko was acting really silly for being a Commander…she didn't think that officials would tolerate anything less than perfection.

"It's quite a sight isn't it?" Smokescreen asked. Snow-Lilly jumped slightly upon barely realizing that the mech was now beside her. She didn't retreat this time…she figured he wouldn't do anything…

The kind mech smiled at her then motioned to the Minicons and the kids. "Those kids are really something…they make friends with every Minicon that comes into our base. I get the feeling that if given the choice, those kids would do anything to protect the Minicons…and visa versa."

"It's sweet." Snow-Lilly replied, watching them. "They seem so happy. Such innocence…it's hard to find, isn't it?...I'd go to any length to make sure that's protected…" She paused and glanced at Smokescreen, who was giving her a look of approval.

"I like the way you think, Snow-Lilly. These humans are so dear to us." The mech looked back to them and his voice softened slightly. "I'd sooner die then let them come to harm."

Snow-Lilly watched the expression of the elder mech as he watched the kids fawn over Orko. They acted a lot like sparklings, but had the knowing of responsibility. Smokescreen's optics were reflecting feelings of pride, protection… friendship…and love…

Love…

That was something Snow-Lilly hadn't seen in a while. It was a feeling of refreshing when she saw it gleaming in the old mech's optics. Hesitantly, the femme set her hand on Smokescreen's shoulder and smiled.

"They'll be fine…I assure you…I won't let anything happen to them, or you, Rev." she said softly.

Smokescreen smiled and put his hand over hers. "I trust you, kid. You'll be safe with me too-…What'd you call me?" A look of confusion went over the mech's face, trying to determine what she had just said.

Snow-Lilly paused and reflected over her words, then winced sharply, before taking a step back. "S-Sorry! Smokescreen- I meant Smokescreen…"

IDIOT!! I am SUCH an IDIOT!!

The femme wanted to retreat...but how would that look? She JUST got reprimanded for avoiding Optimus' troops…

Smokescreen watched her and took her wrist quickly and gently before she could even think about retreating once more. "Snow-Lilly…Didn't I just say that you'll be safe with me?" He asked softly, so as not to alert the kids or spook Snow-Lilly more than she already was.

The femme reflected on his words and relaxed only a bit, a look of shame in her optics…she had spent too much time avoiding the team…she could only imagine what they thought about her…

"Who is Rev, honey?"

Snow-Lilly stayed silent for a while, watching the gentle optics of this Autobot that she had grown somewhat attached to. He was trying his best to warm up to her…that was obvious…and he didn't seem like he was going to give up any time soon, if at all.

But…what could she say?

****D***

"Decepticons, get ready." Megatron cooed. "In a few days those Autobots will be history"

"In a few days?" Razor-Wind looked over, disappointed. "Why not now?"

Megatron smirked at the sleek Decepticon's need for battle. He was too much like Cyclonus, this mech. "Patience, soldier. You will have your chance to put hurt onto those Autobots." Megatron's gaze rested on his troops. "I'm not going to strike those Autobots, when each of you is only at half his power." He glared at Cyclonus. "As soon as the restoration chamber is fixed, no thanks to YOU, you incompetent oof…We will strike in a most…appropriate place…"

Cyclonus winced at the remark…It was Demolisher who was pushing on him…but then he had tried to trip him as Starscream had done that one time…and it did NOT end well…

Starscream frowned lightly and looked towards his leader. "Megatron, are you certain a frontal assault is wise? I understand you have both of the weapons, but it seems too rushed."

"Thank you, Starscream, for the advice. But keep your mouth shut." Megatron glanced at the seeker then stood.

"You all will keep silent about this issue as of now" The leader grinned. "Now get out of my sight. Demolisher. Send in the combination Minicons."

"Yes sir" The loyal mech nodded and left the room to get the Minicons, while everyone else simply left.

As Razor-Wind left, he noticed Sideways going off to the side towards the outside of the moon. The Decepticon frowned, wanting to go see what that turncoat was fixing to do…He had half a mind to report the things he had been seeing to Megatron…but that could wait.

He paused and noticed Starscream seething as he walked.

…heh time for some fun…

"He's not too keen on listening to anyone, is he?" Razor-Wind muttered, slightly passing up Starscream as he walked.

Starscream glared up at him, not really wanting to talk to this creep. Although he had helped out the team quite a bit, he made the seeker feel uneasy…He would admit he trusted Sideways a whole lot more than this guy…

"What would you know?" the seeker growled. "You've never been on an elite team before.

"I guess I need to learn from the best." Razor-Wind smirked at the seeker. "Heard a lot about you three…In fact I was in a squad with Cyclonus at one time before he was promoted."

"Ask me if I care" The seeker frowned at him.

"Heh" The sleek mech looked forward. "So tell me what I need to know, besides tick you off?"

Starscream looked at the Mech as though he were crazy. What would this guy want to know from HIM? Ok, just because he was high rank, the guy would want information…but that stuff was for rookies… Those times were actually remembered by the seeker…he was still very tired of this war though…

The seeker stopped walking and gave him a look of disapproval. "The only thing you need to know is not to tick Megatron off. He doesn't take kindly to failure."

"No duh" Razor-Wind looked to the side. "I've heard that one before all too much…" He smirked. "Of course you don't get into too much trouble when there's Autobot fluid on your hands…"

Starscream, although Decepticon, really didn't like the sound of that coming from the mech's mouth. "How pleasant." The seeker muttered sarcastically.

Razor-Wind smirked at the young seeker and stretched. "Better get a good recharge, Screamer…Something tells me that in the next few days, we're going to have a good game with those Autobots."

"I've heard that before…" The seeker looked up again and frowned. "Yet this war is still going on…"

Razor-Wind smiled. "Well…look on the bright side" He got out his blades and smirked. "More Autobot sufferings…"

Starscream frowned at him slightly. Sure, he was their enemy, but he really didn't want to see them suffer too badly…not like that massacre…

"Up for some sparing?"

Starscream paused and looked at him in disbelief. "You're not joking are you…"

Razor-Wind smirked. "I'll make you a deal. You spar with me, and you'll get first dibs on that chamber once that idiot fixes it."

Starscream considered this. He was low on energy…

"Fine…"

***A***

"What is it Red-Alert?" Optimus asked as he entered the room, where Hotshot was freshly off the counter and flexing himself, making sure that he was fit to kick butt.

The other three mechs paid little to no heed to the young show-off in the room. Red-Alert held up a fracture of the blade that had been embedded in Hotshot's shoulder after the removal of the blade, courtesy of the Minicons.

"This was found in Hotshot's system. It was bringing small shocks to his system that renders him slightly immobile. Since it sends shocks of pain throughout the whole body, a mech or femme under this is rendered useless for battle." The medic explained.

Optimus frowned at the bit of news, but nodded for the medic to continue.

Red-Alert nodded and turned to the screen that was magnifying the scrap of the blade. "This sample has been matched with the same two blades that have been reported to be used in the great massacre."

"The great massacre?!" Hotshot spun around quickly. "You mean that great battle when a small group of Decepticons terrorized the small town of Nova?"

Red-Alert looked to Hotshot and nodded. "You obviously know your history…" he turned to the screen and typed in a few things before a picture of a few select Decepticons were seen destroying the town without mercy. "That terrorizing was lead by the infamous, Thrust…his brothers, Dirge and Ramjet, and two others, Warhawk and Razor-Wind" The Autobot officer frowned. "Razor-Wind was responsible for over 2,000 deaths…most of them Autobot Rookies…"

The room grew silent…Razor-Wind was now involved in this war…that murderer was most likely here to fight, rather that collect any Minicons…

Red-Alert reflected on that last battle…when Razor-Wind got that one Minicon, he didn't retreat…no…he tortured that Minicon to have fun…FUN!! It made him angry.

"Razor-Wind's been widely known for joining Decepticon teams, or just roving on his own, attacking either training camps, to fully armed officers…He has a taste for mech fluid." The officer growled lowly, scanning through the pictures…

"It's a small rumor that he was born an Autobot…but it obviously didn't stick with him…"

"Disgraceful…" Optimus frowned and glanced at Hotshot, who was seething at the thought of an Autobot traitor besides Sideways…

Once the picture was focused back to pictures of the great massacre, Hotshot seemed shocked…

"I know him…that's Bluestreak…and over there's my former comrade Mirage…" Hotshot's mouth hung agape as he studied the picture. "If I would've known that they were a part of that battle…"

"Hotshot, there's nothing you could have done…they destroyed many lives, and you might have been one of them" Optimus looked to the young soldier empathetically. "It's not your fault"

"Yeah, well, I could've done SOMETHING…" Hotshot muttered.

Red-Alert seemed to be studying the picture, his visor focused on a particular yellow mech…before he shut the screen off and looked at Optimus. "My recommendations, sir, would be from now on, no one is in a battle without a partner to back them up."

"Agreed" Optimus nodded and looked to those in the room. "We'll need to brief everyone…this is going to be a busy week…"

****AN***

Yes, Orko is named after the He-Man Orko...what can I say? It's a cool name! I named him WAY back when. So yeah

Also, credit for WarHawk belongs to Teh-Crab! Thanks!


	6. Problem

****A***

Blurr leaned against the mountain with Snow-Lilly next to him, watching the sun rise. Although the serious mech was still getting used to his surroundings, he had to admit that Earth had some lovely features to it. It reminded him of a less destructive Iacon…

Surely those days were over…He was always told to help the future move along though…

He paid little to no heed to the femme leaning against him. Sure, he had gotten a little more space from her…but he figured he would be nice just this once…

"…Smokescreen says you guys are going to train together today…" Snow-Lilly muttered softly, watching the stars slowly disappear as a curtain of new light was spreading over the sky.

"mmm."

"How are you and Hotshot doing? Is he getting better?"

"mm"

"That's good…"

Snow-Lilly looked to the side a little bit. "…Why did Optimus have to talk about the Great Massacre on Tuesday?"

"Because he was talking about Razor-Wind being a threat to us…not about Rev getting stabbed in the chest…" Blurr paused and glanced at her, then hesitantly putting an arm around her shoulders after noticing the saddened look on her face.

The femme sighed and looked away slightly. She missed Rev terribly…if anything she wanted him back so HE could be the hero once more…not her. She couldn't be an Autobot…

A few tiny steps adverted her attention, and both Autobots looked to the side where two Minicons were coming out. Blurr immediately took his arm off of Snow-Lilly shoulders and moved to the side to where she was no longer leaning on him.

Snow-Lilly glanced at him then watched the two Minicons…

"Jolt! Liftor!" she greeted in a cheerful manner.

The two Minicons looked over, startled at first, then reacting pleased once they saw the two Autobots.

"Hey what's up guys?" Not far behind, Hotshot came out, grinning. "Ready for me to kick your tail in practice today, Blurr?"

"Hardly" Blurr said sarcastically. "I believe it will be the other way around."

Snow-Lilly leaned down and picked up the two Minicons in her hands, then brought them up gently, smiling at them. She looked over to Hotshot, a smaller smile on her face. "Have you finally beat Blurr on that 'catch the flag' bit?"

Hotshot paused and looked embarrassed. "Uh…not exactly…but he's GOING to be beaten, I guarantee yah that!"

"Hah. Good ego-stroking Hotshot, but that record won't be broken…by you anyways." Blurr scoffed.

Hotshot frowned at the show-off then looked towards the Minicons in the femme's hands. "So, you met your Minicon, huh?" He asked, feeling more comfortable talking to an Autobot that he knew wouldn't throw insults at him. "Smokescreen told me that Orkono, or 'Orko' as the kids call him, seems to like you a little bit." Hotshot smiled. "Can't say I blame him. You're pretty sweet to the kids, unlike SOME bots."

Blurr huffed it off, while Snow-Lilly looked at Hotshot with surprise. "Me? I'm not all that good with the kids, not like you or Smokescreen. You guys are practically brothers to those cuties."

The yellow mech grinned at the praise. "Yeah? Well, they rub off on yah don't they?"

There was no answer but a smile.

"Enough of this." Blurr looked to Snow-Lilly and nodded. "I'm going to get ready for practice. I suggest you do the same." With that he took the Minicons from her hands and headed back in, leaving the two behind.

Snow-Lilly watched him and muttered a low, "Yes sir" as he left.

Hotshot shook his head slightly, watching the blue mech leave, then looked back to Snow-Lilly. "I don't see how you deal with him, Snow. He's…a jerk."

Snow-Lilly smiled and nodded. "He gets that way sometimes, but he's just a mech who's been in too many battles, fights, etc, to have a chance to just…'chill out' as the kids say."

Hot shot leaned against the mountain and looked towards the sunrise which was almost done. "Well he could use a few lessons from you, kid. You're super nice…shy…but nice."

The femme gave him a surprised look then looked to the sunrise as well. Her team viewed her as shy…well that was better than being viewed as snobby…

"You know…you can always come hang with me. I know I have to train a lot with Scavenger, but I don't bite." Hotshot looked towards the femme. "Besides…I know Scavenger's your instructor too…we could, you know…train together and try to kick his butt."

Snow-Lilly looked at him and then giggled slightly. "That's near impossible, Hotshot" she smiled a little softer at him. "Scavenger has the hide of a sharkticon, and he rumbles like a-…a-…"

"HAHAHA!" Hotshot took a few steps up and put a hand on her shoulder, grinning widely. "He snores like a monster, doesn't he? "

Snow-Lilly covered her mouth and bit her lip, trying not to laugh. What had she missed? This mech was very nice. "You know…This team isn't what I'm used to." She confessed. "You're all a little nicer than I thought…except for Blurr of course."

"Of course" Hotshot smiled and held out his hand. "You don't have to act too professional, we're all friends here." He beckoned a bit for her hand. "How about it?"

Snow-Lilly watched his hand for a little bit, before gently putting her hand in his. "Friends?"

Hotshot smiled and lead her in, letting her go first. "Friends. Now let's go train and kick their butts"

***H***

"I saw Snow-Lilly enjoying the sunrise with Blurr this morning" Alexis yawned as she packed her backpack, getting ready for school. "They looked really relaxed."

"Not only that, they looked a little cozy too" Carlos grinned, looking at the picture he had snapped of them. Oh this was big blackmail time. "I never thought that Autobots could get as cozy as those two were."

"No Duh, Carlos" Alexis frowned. "It's kinda hard to get cozy with no female."

"Blurr's got the hottie though" Billy grinned. "Too bad he's so mean and she's so nice."

"Yeah. She'd do better with someone more…soft." Fred cooed as he stuffed a bag of chips into his bag.

Rad looked over from getting his jacket on. "What? You mean like Optimus?"

"I think she's got a crush on Smokescreen, she's always around him. Oh that'd be good drama for Blurr" Billy grinned.

"NO not like Optimus" Fred snapped, not paying heed to Billy. "I'm talking about a handsome guy who would appreciate her kindness."

The group stared at Fred for a moment, before they all busted out laughing.

"You can NOT be serious, Fred! You're a human! She's an Autobot!" Carlos snickered. "Besides, she's got Blurr!"

"It could happen!" Fred snapped.

"Kids, are you not leaving yet?" Optimus stepped in, looking towards the group. "You're going to be late for your education"

"We're getting there Optimus" Rad looked over. "Almost done"

"If Fred wouldn't fawn over a girl who's taken, we'd be ready by now." Billy grinned at Fred, who was blushing.

Optimus tilted his head, glancing at the said human, then back to Billy. "A girl from school perhaps?"

"Brace yourself, Oh fearless leader" Carlos got his backpack on. "Fred's crushin' on Blurr's chick. Isn't that funny?"

"Carlos!" Fred flailed angrily. "Stop it!"

"Or what?" Billy grinned. "This is big news. I'd love to see the look of disgust on that girl's face"

"Knock it off Billy" Rad looked up, putting on his bag and motioning Highwire to come over. "It's funny, yeah, but we're going to be late."

"Yeah Yeah, lame school"

Optimus blinked at the kids. This was somewhat disturbing. "Actually, kids, Blurr and Snow-Lilly aren't-"

"Don't worry Optimus" Carlos grinned. "Fred ain't getting Blurr's chick."

"But that's the thing. She's not-"

"Comon guys, let's go! We've gotta get to school" Alexis shouted, riding Sure-shock out.

"Maybe we'll get to tease Blurr and his girlfriend on the way out!" Billy grinned running after them, Fred running after them, whining for them to slow down.

"But kids! Those two are not-" Optimus was cut off as the kids ran clear out of the base in rush for school. The leader blinked his optics in surprise. "…a couple…Oh those kids are sparklings in disguise…." The leader shook his head and walked towards the door, rubbing his head.

His thoughts reflected on the coming training that was in process…they had to pull together more than ever now that both of the weapons were in play…and he was getting to the point of deciding whether or not the kids would be safe with them…

His thoughts were cut short when his computer signaled him that they were getting a message from the moon…the moon?

…Megatron no doubt…

Optimus frowned behind his mask and headed for the control room, signaling the Autobots through an alert to do the same. He had been fearing this…since those Decepticons had the weapons, they obviously felt they had the advantage…which they did…

But one thing that they lacked was team work.

Optimus was hoping that if his team could work on that important thing, they'd somehow outwit the Decepticons. Once he reached the control room, he switched on the hollow-projector.

Yep. Sure enough, Megatron's ugly mug was showing on the screen.

"I'd say it was nice to see you, but that would be a bitter taste in my mouth, Megatron" Optimus said some-what sarcastically to the screen.

Megatron grinned evilly upon the Autobot's un-pleasantries. Seeing the other Autobots enter the room to see what was going on just made his ego expand. "Why so sour Optimus? Surely you of all mechs should be rather 'optimistic'."

Optimus frowned at the dryness of his joke. "Cut to the chase already, Megatron. What do you want?"

"Why Optimus, I'm glad you asked. Today is the day we Decepticons will crush the Autobots and take control of the Minicons." Megatron grinned. "I challenge you to a final battle at the coordinate of my choice"

"If I had an energon cube for every time you've declared that you've already won…" Optimus muttered.

"Well place your bet, for we end this today" Megatron smirked.

"No way, yah sleezy con!" Hotshot barked. "We KNOW the trap you've set for us!"

"Oh on the contrary, it's all fair game." The Decepticon leader grinned even more at the rookie.

"Fair game my tail-pipe!" Hotshot took a step up, just to have Smokescreen hold him back a little.

"Back off, kid" Smokescreen muttered. "Don't take it out on the computer."

"My challenge remains, Optimus" The Decepticon turned his attention back to the Autobot leader. "Deny me and we'll simply bring the battle to you. It's your choice. You have one Mega-cycle."

That much said, the image disappeared. The screen was replaced with an image of mountains and trees…the place of Megatron's choice. The Autobots were all silent, not liking the sound of this challenge…the Decepticons were obviously armed far better than they were…and it was going to take a miracle to even hold a spark to them…

"Awaiting orders, sir" Red-Alert said lowly, noting the thoughtful look on his leader's face.

"We can't take the battle there. They're OBVIOUSLY trapping us" Hotshot looked to Optimus. "They have both the weapons, and they're close to our number. Think about it Optimus."

"Even though you have a point Hotshot, This has to be addressed" Scavenger looked to the rookie then to Optimus. "Sir, either way they do have the advantage, but that won't stop us from putting up a defense."

Optimus put his hands behind his back, thinking this through…knowing Megatron, his choice of land was going to be used to his advantage…

Blurr echoed the leader's thoughts by stepping in. "We'll fight those cons, sir, But we should do it here, where we know the lay out."

"Problem, Blurr" Smokescreen looked over. "The Decepticons have been in here once. No doubt they scanned the area."

"I suppose that's what automated guns are for." Blurr muttered.

"uh-uh…I don't agree at all." Snow-Lilly took a step up. "S-Sir? Optimus, sir- Let me say something. Bringing the battle to the base is a bad idea"

Optimus turned his gaze to the youngest of the team. "How so, Snow-Lilly?"

Snow-Lilly paused as his gaze rested on her. She swallowed and pointed at the picture. "We should go to the place that he's requesting instead of letting him bring the battle to us."

"Snow-Lilly, you're not using your processor correctly." Blurr frowned.

The femme looked over to the sniper. "I think I am, Blurr." She looked back to the Leader and looked pleading. "If we have the battle here, things that could aid us in future battles would get destroyed, and there's a chance a lot of innocent Minicons that we have would be either captured or destroyed." She took a step up. "Not only that, but the human city is VERY close to the base. I don't want the humans to suffer for our war."

The room was silent as the femme made her point known. Snow-Lilly swallowed and looked towards the screen. "Sir-…if we pair up in the best way possible and make a formation Alpha-3, that should at least slow them down and buy us some time to gain an advantage"

Optimus watched the femme, then a small smile came to his hidden face. Looking back to the image, he studied it closely…yes…an Alpha-3 formation would help…This solider was giving excellent advice.

"Where did that come from, girl?" Hotshot gave Snow-Lilly a grin. "You almost sound like a sub-commander"

The purple femme grimaced lightly and folded her hands. "I hope not, Hotshot"

Hotshot paused and tilted his head. "Snow-?"

"It's settled then. We'll take the battle to the Decepticons." Optimus turned to his troops. "Scavenger, you'll be with me. Hotshot? You, Smokescreen and Blurr will form the point in the formation. I'll give you your position upon arriving." Optimus turned and set in the settings into the computer. "Red-Alert, You and Snow-Lilly will provide as covered weapons. Once we get there, stay close to each other, and stay covered. I do know that the slant on the mountains may provide us a slight advantage on the flyers."

"Yes sir" Red-Alert nodded then glanced to Snow-Lilly, who looked at him and nodded in respect. He gave a respectful nod back and looked back to Optimus, who turned to give orders.

"We are unsure how this battle will end. Everyone be on guard and know what you are fighting for. Good and justice will always prevail in the long run, but we are never promised tomorrow." The Leader nodded and started heading out. "Move out!"

"Yes sir!"

The entire team saluted, then hustled for the warp gate. This fight would be for good to prevail. Evil would never win.

"Hey kid!"

Snow-Lilly turned her head as she ran after the others, coming into optic contact with a smiling Smokescreen. "Nice choice of words, Autobot."

Snow-Lilly blushed lightly and looked forward. "Thank you, Smokescreen" she cooed as she transformed into her car mode. The warp gate was activated upon their arrival, and soon, the team was on their way to the set battle.

** D**

"Oh how I've longed for this day" Megatron cooed, a nasty smile coming to his lips. The fact that he had his enemies in the palm of his hands was all but inviting. Now that he had what he wanted, he was going to make sure that this was not going to slip away from him. "Sweet revenge is finally mine."

Razor-Wind looked over the scenery that was before them as they waited for the Autobots to come to the well prepared battle. This would not be nearly as sweet as the Great Massacre, but he really didn't care. So long as he could fight and see them suffer. "Must we make it quick?" He growled, looking towards the Decepticon leader. "Or can we at least let them suffer?"

Megatron smirked at the sleek mech. "What a cold spark you have, Razor-Wind. Very Decepticon-like."

"no-duh." Razor-Wind looked back to the horizon where a thundercloud was forming and heading for the area.

"You're very vulgar, solider. Learn to be quiet. Soon you will have the fight you long for" Megatron's optics narrowed. "However, Optimus is mine to take care of."

"When is he not?" Sideways muttered lightly, a frown behind his mask. He wished that Megatron would get it through that horn head that there was more to these things than pure power. If only he could get an opportunity.

The turncoat paused then cast a glance around at the other Decepticon soldiers. Cyclonus, as usual, was laughing his head off, powering his weapons, ready for the fight that would break. Demolisher was attempting to discuss a strategy with the copter-bot. However it was obvious that the idiot wasn't listening.

Sideways glanced to the other side. Starscream was looking at his drawn sword, gazing into it as though there was some question in his mind about this choice. However, it was obvious that he wasn't going to question Megatron…

And Razor-Wind was still very interested in the horizon. He seemed to be contemplating, or at least thinking about something. Sideways wasn't sure, nor did he really care. All he did know is that the creep had been watching him. Ok sure, he had never heard of him, so he might be curious. But the turncoat had too much at stake to let that fighter sniff around…

Besides…if everything went according to plan today, he would only be one more step ahead…

"Oh goody! Looks like the party finally came!" Cyclonus grinned and stood eagerly as the Autobots warped in. Megatron, as well, stood up and grinned in anticipation.

The Autobots transformed and looked at the Decepticons in anticipation, none of them looking too happy. Optimus' optics were cold and he was looking at Megatron with an accusing look, knowing what the leader had up his processer.

However, he and his team were ready, and no matter what went on during the battle, they would be ready to defend what was right with their lives if nessicary. Megatron knew that as well…

"Ha. Optimus, I'm so glad you came. It's a good thing to face death with dignity" Megatron grinned, holding the sword and the shield up. "I've been waiting a long time for this."

"Is that so? Well sorry to burst your bubble, Megatron, but you'll have to wait even longer!" The Autobot leader growled. Megatron chuckled evilly. Optimus was well…optimistic.

"We'll find out now won't we?" The Decepticon took a step up, holding both weapons. "Men, stay out of my way. I can handle this myself."

"But Megatron-" Sideways started, before a sharp glare came from the Decepticon leader.

"Silence, Sideways. Do NOT make me punish you." He growled lowly.

The turncoat frowned and nodded. "Whatever you say, sir"

Idiot…this will just make things worse for you.

"Bring it on, you overgrown motherboard!" Hotshot yelled, taking out his gun. "You think your pretty tough huh?"

Megatron smirked at the young Autobot as he and the other Autobots got ready to fire. Getting the Skyboom shield ready, he sized most of the Autobots up. Yes…he could DEFINATLY handle these weaklings.

Just then Hotshot and Blurr began firing on Megatron, who promptly blocked the shots. As the other Autobots joined in the firing, Megatron began advancing at a walk, gradually becoming a run.

"Hotshot? Did you REALLY have to provoke him?" Snow-Lilly winced as she kept firing, her shots becoming more frantic as Megatron got closer.

"Get used to it, kid" Smokescreen replied as he continued to fire at the advancing Decepticon. "You'll be dealing with it till the end of the war."

"Hey the jerk deserves it!" Hotshot called as he started taking steps back as he fired.

"That 'jerk' is gaining on us!" Scavenger growled, quick to dart to the side as the Decepticon leader swung his sword at them, resulting in the Autobots darting.

"I feel really stupid running like a sparkling…" Hotshot growled, still running, every now and then turning, shooting and darting.

As they ran, Optimus turned and shot at Megatron, allowing his troops to retreat a ways. The Autobot leader was well aware of what Megatron was trying to gain by all this. That was the last thing that Optimus was going to allow.

The Autobot didn't get far with his thoughts, because before he knew it Megatron had sliced his blaster in two. Terrific…as if things couldn't get any worse. Quick to act the leader of the Autobots took a few steps back and raised his hand to his helmet to activate his com-link. "Men, get to your positions! And keep your optics open! The other Decepticons are itching to join the fight"

"Positions? What could you possibly gain, Optimus?" Megatron swung his sword and tried to get to Optimus. "I hold both of the weapons, I am invincible!"

"If I had an energon goodie for every time I've heard that one…" Optimus muttered, dodging each swing. Glancing to the side, he noticed his troops getting in position. Scavenger attempted to get to Optimus, however, Cyclonus and Demolisher opened fire on him to keep him from helping the Autobot Leader.

Sensing the opportunity, Razor-Wind quickly transformed and sped for the Autobots, homing in on Hotshot and Blurr, who were firing on the opposing team as best as they could.

"This time, Hotshot, try not to get hit. I really don't need my kin fawning over YOUR sorry hide again" Blurr growled, firing on the approaching armored vehicle.

"Give it a rest will yah?" Hotshot yelled, taking a few steps back as he shot. "Hey Smokescreen, stay close to that cover! Blurr, I got an idea"

"Go for it then" Blurr nodded.

"Hotshot-" Smokescreen started before the two mechs went speeding for the vehicle. This was a little awkward, usually he was partnered with Hotshot…at least he could help in those pairings…

Razor-Wind drove off a ledge and flew into the air, transforming and firing upon the two mechs. His optics narrowed. Finally, this would perhaps prove to be amusing.

As this battle unfolded, Red-Alert tried to get positioned behind a few trees, getting his equipment ready for cover fire. If the Decepticons thought that just by having the two weapons that they would be victorious, they had another thing coming. The medic had to pause when he heard loud revving behind him. Turning, he saw Sideways diving for him, seemingly intent on plowing on him.

Before the Medic could gather his thoughts, a sharp shot hit Sideways on his back wheel, making him lose control and go reeling into the bushes. A gasp was herd.

"Man…I wanted to blow up his tire and steer him into the pond…"

Red Alert fixed his visor behind him, where Snow-Lilly stood, her rifle smoking slightly. A small smile made its way to the Medic's face, before turning serious. "As long as he was hit. Thank you, Snow-Lilly"

The girl paused and nodded before joining him, helping him to aim. It looked like all they had to do was fire on Starscream and Razor-Wind. Scavenger was dealing with Demolisher…

Behind the two Autobots, Long-Arm and Orko stood. Orko was ready for battle and his optics were narrowed dangerously. 'Why aren't we out there as well?'

"Because you are both under our protection" Red-Alert replied, aiming at Starscream, then firing rapidly.

Orko frowned. 'I am the commander of the Minicons. I do not need protection.'

"He sounds like Hotshot" Red-Alert muttered as he shot at the enemy.

Snow-Lilly glanced at Orko, a confused look on her face…when he was at the base…he seemed to act goofy and care-free…but here…

His role of commander showed brighter than a flare…

Snow-Lilly gasped and turned as an explosion was heard. Over on the battlefield Razor-Wind had Blurr by the neck and was sending his fist into the mech's middle. He promptly dropped the mech and turned and glanced over as Hotshot, power-linked with Jolt, was firing on him, backing away, trying to lead the merciless Decepticon away from his friend.

"Hey, jerk, your Mother every teach you to play fair?" The rookie growled.

"Not really." Razor-Wind grinned, turning towards Hotshot. "In fact the only thing she taught me was how to share. Let me share my firepower with you!"

With that much said, the mech took out a blaster from his back and fired rapidly, sending the mech back. "Your girlfriend's not here to protect you, weakling."

Hotshot winced and quickly got back in stance. "She's not my- OOOFF!"

Landing on his back, the young mech shivered lightly when Razor-Wind drew one of his blades…

That was before everyone heard a loud surge of energy; All optics turned their attention to Optimus and Megatron, who were struggling. Megatron had his sword positioned to slice Optimus in two…only…the Skyboom shield was protecting Optimus and it looked like Sparkplug was over the leader's chest.

The weapons pulsed…the energy got stronger…then in a brilliant flash of light, a surge of power was sent out like a shock wave, hurling both Autobot and Decepticon alike into random parts of the forest, their circuits surging and sparking.

The screaming of the Autobots and Decepticons could be heard as they were hurled like ragdolls away from the battle ground.

With a sickening crack, Red-Alert crashed into some trees and boulders, his body sparking with an energon surge. "O-…Optimus…sir…" he muttered before his system blacked out.

***H***

"In the civil war, it was General Lee who refused Lincoln's command and took side of the south. Does anybody know why?" The teacher looked to the class expectantly, as a few hands went up.

"Was it because he was a southerner himself?" one student asked.

As the class discussed the question, Rad looked to the side, slightly, noticing that Fred was doodling on a scrap piece of paper, blushing slightly. Billy ended up snatching the paper from him and holding the panicking boy back with one hand as he grinned, studying the drawing that the larger boy had doodled.

Rad shook his head and looked back to his notes. Civil war stuff…hah…if only the world knew about the slavery war that the universe was facing right now…

"You know she's got Blurr"

"But he's mean! I'm nice!"

"Get over it, doofus, she won't go for yah"

"It could happen!"

Oh for crying out loud…

Rad looked over and gave the two boys a sharp look. "Hey, would you knock it off? I can't hear the teacher"

"BOYS!"

The trio silenced themselves enough to look to the teacher who had her arms crossed and was looking at them sternly. "Perhaps you boys feel that you can teach the class instead."

"No- uh- No ma'am" They chorused.

Alexis looked behind her from the front of the room, shooting the boys a glare that pretty much yelled 'be quiet'.

The boys hushed up and quickly got straightened out. Fred stuffed his drawing in his bag and blushed a bit more.

Alexis sighed and looked back to her paper, then glanced briefly at her bag…then double took…A light was slowly flashing on and off inside of the bag where she kept Laser-Beak. She grimaced…surely Hotshot had explained to Snow-Lilly that the kids had school…or maybe it was an urgent call…

"Um- excuse me, Mrs. Haltom? May I be excused briefly?" Alexis asked, quickly putting the cyber hawk in her pocket.

The teacher glanced over slightly and waved her hand in dismissal. Alexis quickly got up and out of the room, heading for the girls locker room. Once she got there, she took out Laser-Beak and opened his small flap.

The words "Signal lost" were flashing repeatedly.

Alexis paused and bit her lip. What was this? Was something going on?

"Optimus? Optimus! It's Alexis! Hey? Anyone there?"

No response came.

The girl gasped and tapped the screen. "Optimus? Red-Alert?...Hotshot? Smokescreen?"

Still no answer…

"Scavenger?....Blurr?....Snow-Lilly? ANYBODY?"

Not even static was picked up…

The girl began to worry…were the Autobots in trouble? She looked at the clock…there were still thirty more minutes of school…MAN! She and the others had to get to the base!...

"Sure-Shock? Come in?"

…..

'Sure-shock here. What's the matter, Alexis? Aren't you supposed to be in class?'

"Yes, but I noticed that Laser-Beak was transmitting a strange signal…and I can't get a hold of ANY of the Autobots" The girl muttered, slowly becoming quieter as she heard someone else enter the room. "Are you guys alright?"

'We're fine, but we're still outside…I'll tell Highwire…we'll see what the problem is'

"Alright…stay out there ok? As soon as school is over, we're all going to the base A.S.A.P. alright?"

'You got it'

"Thanks Sure-Shock" Alexis put Laser-Beak back in her pocket and winced…she hoped the Autobots were alright….

***A***


	7. Stuck together

***A***

"oohh…man…" Hotshot's systems powered on, and the word 'error' flashed on his screen repeatedly. What just hit him…and…where was he?

He noticed that he was laying on his stomach in a patch of grass…a few trees were broken, and debris was surrounding him…did he crash land?...All he could remember was he was fighting Razor-Wind…and then…

A sharp gasp came to the Autobot as he hurriedly got to his feet and looked around franticly. "Optimus!" The rookie looked around franticly, trying to locate his team.

"Optimus!...Blurr!"

He took a few steps up and focused on his surroundings…he couldn't identify where he was… What was going on?...huh?

He heard a scuffle in front of him and he quickly got out his gun and ran towards the movement. He paused for a moment, and quickly stepped out, gun drawn.

A startled Liftor and Sparkplug looked up.

A brief pause and Hotshot quickly put the weapon away. "Guys!" He rushed over and helped them out of the mud pit that they were in. "Are you guys alright?"

' A little shaken, but my systems are alright.' Liftor panted, trying to get mud off of his face.

Sparkplug looked around, this way and that. 'Hotshot? Where's Optimus? I thought I was with him when…the weapons clashed…' The Minicon suddenly had a surprised look on his face…oh no…

"I haven't seen him yet, buddy." Hotshot looked around, half hoping that either Jolt or Optimus was nearby…He hopped his team was alright…he couldn't stand the thought of anyone on his team getting hurt…

The rookie growled lowly. He would never allow that to happen.

Hotshot glanced back to the Minicons then rose his gantlet to his face. "This is Hotshot Calling Optimus…come in sir!"

Nothing…not even static…

"Optimus! Come in!"

'It won't do any good, Hotshot' Sparkplug regained his bearings and approached the Autobot. 'Our weapons and radios are out. It's going to stay this way for a mega cycle'

"What? How do you know?" Hotshot grimaced and took out his gun, and pointed it to a log, trying to shoot. Unfortunately, the Minicon was right. The gun would NOT power up. "Oh Man…It can't get any worse can it?" he muttered, kicking a tree in frustration.

"WHHHAAAA!"

"ACK!"

Hotshot quickly scooped up the Minicons in his hands and dashed to the side. As he looked back, he saw something brown land on its head…two other things bounced on it…hey…that looked like…

"Demolisher?" Hotshot gaped slightly as the Decepticon slowly got up. The said Decepticon looked to the side, then scrambled up, accidently kicking the two Minicons that landed on him aside. Demolisher folded his shoulders in order to aim his weapons at Hotshot, then tried to fire…just to find out that he couldn't.

"Wha- What the…What did you DO?" Demolisher panicked, trying his best to fire.

"I didn't do nothin'…" Hotshot muttered, a small smirk coming to his face as the Decepticon tried everything that he attempted not ten seconds ago. The Yellow Autobot looked to the side and grimaced as Crumple-zone and Blackout slowly peeked out from behind the trees.

"Well at least you still have yours" Hotshot muttered sarcastically.

Demolisher looked over from trying to contact Megatron. "Blackout! Crumple-zone? Where's Cyclonus?"

'I'm not sure.' The Minicon frowned. 'I can't keep up with him when we've almost been-'

"He's YOUR partner, you useless-!"

"Hey! Leave the little guy alone!" Hotshot set the Autobot Minicons down and got in a ready stance. "It's not HIS fault your idiot of a friend is lost."

Demolisher growled and took a step up, before they heard a noise in the distance.

The Autobot and the Decepticon glanced at each other with a distrusting look, before they both went to investigate. They walked, pushing through brush and trees, and every now and then, Hotshot would look back to see if the four Minicons were with them, and to make sure that Demolisher didn't try anything.

It was obvious that the Decepticon wasn't liking this anymore than he was.

Hotshot suddenly stopped as they got to a ridge…a very steep ridge…there was another side, and there was Smokescreen struggling for something…he seemed to be confused, and he had a large gash on his shoulder.

"Smokescreen!" Hotshot called, happy to see a friendly face. "Hey buddy! Are you alright?"

Smokescreen looked over quickly and his face reflected relief. "Hotshot! You're alright…wha- Demolisher's behind-"

"I know" Hotshot glanced at Demolisher, his smile disappearing for a brief second, making sure the Decepticon didn't do anything. Instead, Demolisher had his arms crossed, scowling as though this small talk was wasting his time…

The Decepticon was a little nervous…now he was out numbered…

Hotshot looked back to Smokescreen, then looked around…there was no way they could just jump the ravine…unless they could transform…but with the luck they've been having…chances would be that they couldn't even do that…great.

"Liftor!" Smokescreen greeted joyfully. "I'm glad to see you safe, buddy!"

'Smokescreen, you're hurt!'

"Me? Nah, it's just a scratch!" The Autobot grinned at his Minicon partner, then looked to Hotshot. "Have you heard from anyone, Hotshot? I can't seem to get in contact with Optimus or anyone else"

"No one can" Hotshot motioned to Demolisher. "He and I can't even used our radios at all."

"I know how to use a radio, jerk! It's just not working!" Demolisher defended himself pathetically.

Hotshot gave the Decepticon a sarcastic look, then looked back to Smokescreen. "We obviously can't regroup here… we'll have to find a long way…if you see Blurr, make sure his big ol' ego isn't bruised."

"Sure…and if I see Optimus I'll let him know that Sparkplug is alright." Smokescreen gave Hotshot a thumbs up. "Be careful with that 'con though."

"This CON has a name you know!" Demolisher growled.

Hotshot smirked at the Decepticon, and then looked back to Smokescreen. "I don't want to leave you in the shape you're in though…"

The Older mech gave a thumbs up. "Don't worry about me, kid. I can handle myself."

***D***

"I can handle myself!" Starscream growled as he tried to pull himself up, trying hard not to fall off the side of the mountain into the forest below. Above him, Snow-Lilly was watching him and hesitantly trying to offer him a hand. Starscream, however, swatted her hand away and tried pulling himself up.

A few struggles, and Starscream managed to get to the edge, and pulled himself up, panting. "Why can't I transform?" He growled lowly, looking back over the edge…while hanging over that stupid cliff, his systems would not transform so he could safely fly away…Why?

Starscream paused and swiftly slapped Snow-Lilly's hand away as she examined a wound on his wing. "Get off of me, Autobot" He growled.

Snow-Lilly backed away and frowned, rubbing her hand. "You're hurt…I just thought-"

"Don't." He looked at her and narrowed his optics. "I have nothing to do with you, nether you with me." The seeker looked over the forest…why was he the only one there? The Decepticon looked back at Snow-Lilly and frowned. "What ARE you looking at? Do you WANT me to shoot you?"

The Femme shook her head slightly. "I'm debating on shooting you or not. I don't want to kick someone when they're down"

Starscream paused and gave her a strange look, then growled and pointed at her. "I am anything but down, little one."

Snow-Lilly backed away and grimaced, taking out her gun and aiming it at Starscream, who promptly backhanded the weapon out of her hand. However, instead of advancing, Starscream glared at her, then paused upon noticing something…

He blinked and looked around…they were alone…that blast…how did he get way over here? He could see the part of the forest where the original battle had taken place…it was now miles away…and since he couldn't transform, it didn't look like he could get back over there.

Snow-Lilly watched Starscream for a bit and looked around…of all the rotten luck, she got stuck with the second in command of the Decepticons. On a normal base…and especially if Blurr was watching, she would have shot the seeker…but…He didn't seem to be in a good fighting stance…that would be unfair…

The femme paused and looked to the side upon hearing a yelp, followed by a thud just below them. Snow-Lilly hesitantly looked over the edge of the cliff, and there, on another lower ledge, lay Cyclonus, sprawled on his back, one of his rotor blades bent backwards, and a single red Minicon attempting a retreat.

Snow-Lilly gasped and cupped her hands. "Jolt!" she called quickly, before mentally berating herself for shouting.

It got the Minicon's attention, but it also got the 'copter-bot's attention, and Starscream's as well.

The girl winced. Oh man…

Cyclonus paused for a minute and then got up slowly, grinning widely up at her. "Hey little darlin'! I was hoping tah get reacquainted with yah!"

Snow-Lilly grimaced and took a step back. His behavior reminded her of the training camps back on Iacon…no matter where you went, there was almost always someone hitting on you…

Starscream frowned and looked over the cliff. "Cyclonus! Where is everyone, you idiot?"

"How should I know? All I remember is seeing Megatron and Optimus fighting, and then BOOM!" He motioned to his blades. "No radio, no weapons, and I CAN'T fly!"

"Join the crowd" Starscream growled, positioning himself, and then jumping off the ledge, landing roughly by Cyclonus. He frowned and glanced at the Minicon, Jolt, who was pressing himself against the wall of the cliff, trying to hide behind some bushes.

Frowning, the Seeker started walking over in attempt to get the Minicon and somehow get it to Megatron.

"Leave him alone!" Snow-Lilly cried franticly. "He's Hotshot's partner!"

"Quite frankly, I don't care" Starscream growled, looking up her way.

Snow-Lilly winced and tried to find a good opportunity to jump down…of course, since they couldn't fly, she was safe up there…but what about Jolt! She couldn't face Hotshot if anything happened to that Minicon!

The two Decepticons were watching her…it made her uncomfortable…what could she do?

SLAM!

whoa!

"Hey! What- ack!" Snow-Lilly panicked as the side of the cliff trembled, as Cyclonus slammed his fist into the wall, a grin on his face. He slammed into it again and again, until, finally, the femme fell off the edge and landed in the Decepticon's arms.

Cyclonus gave her a wild grin. "So nice of you to drop in! HAHAHA!"

Snow-Lilly gasped and struggled, just to find the Decepticon's grip get tighter.

"No you don't, baby." Cyclonus purred. "You're not squirming away from me. First you're gonna pay for that little stunt you pulled on me three weeks ago, THEN yer makin' nice!"

Snow-Lilly grimaced and she gave a sick whine.

"Cut it out Cyclonus" Starscream muttered, looking over the horizon. "It's NOT the time to be toying with that femme."

"My NAME is Snow-Lilly" The femme frowned, trying to struggle out of Cyclonus' grip. "Put me down!"

SMACK!

Snow-Lilly was promptly dropped on the ground as her fist accidently collided with Cyclonus' nose. As the Decepticon covered his face, the Autobot promptly scrambled up and dashed for the bush that Starscream was heading for.

"Jolt! Are you ok, honey?" The femme quickly scooped up the Minicon and turned, Just to see the two Decepticons blocking her way.

Cyclonus was mad as a hornet, and Starscream was getting annoyed. Snow-Lilly swallowed and kept Jolt close to herself to protect him. Lovely…

"Don't worry, Jolt, hon. I'll make sure you get to Hotshot. I don't wanna let him down" She murmured softly to the Minicon. In her mind, however, she was screaming at herself, wondering what she could do.

She was an Autobot ROOKIE…they were Decepticon ELITE!

She…was doomed…

***A***

Optimus wasn't fairing that well either…Once he had landed, he notice he was stuck with Leader-one of all Minicons. Not only did he have an enemy Minicon, He was also stuck with the fact that Razor-Wind had landed near, and he wasn't at all concerned about finding his team.

No…that Decepticon was wanting to re-start the fight that had been paused…

And Optimus wasn't too happy that the Decepticon's main motive was to fight.

"Stop this now" The Autobot leader growled. "You, nor I, am in ANY condition to fight!" As he spoke, he grabbed the Decepticon by the shoulder and threw him to the side. Since he had no weapons…he couldn't do anything but melee.

Razor-Wind had his blades out…without the glow to them…they weren't working to their potential like they had been the past few fights that he had been using them. Struggling to his feet, he narrowed his optics at the Autobot leader. Unfortunately he had a point about this. Neither of them had any working weapons…and without his weapons working, his blades would not immobilize the Autobot leader.

Sourly, the Decepticon sheathed his blades, and crossed his arms. "What exactly have you gotten us into, Prime? Surely you of all Mechs would have a back-up plan."

Optimus frowned. "For your information, I don't know everything in the universe."

"What a shame. That's certainly not what Jets told everyone." Razor-Wind smirked at the leader, and then looked around. Aha. The Decepticon walked to a tree and kicked it, which Thunderbolt promptly fell out of.

"There you are, my pet."

Optimus growled and glanced to the side to make sure Leader-one had not attempted another escape, then looked back to Razor-Wind. "Who do you think you are? Do you honestly think that I'll just ALLOW you to take that Minicon after all I've seen you do to him?"

"Well…yes" Razor-Wind picked Thunderbolt up by the leg and watched him squirm. "He is mine after all." The Decepticon looked over to Optimus. "Besides, as I recall, Autobots usually don't interfere with Decepticon business. Rule 81."

"When it involves a Minicon or another innocent-" Optimus paused and a crazed look graced his optics for a moment before his optics turned dark and cold. "So…it's true…you were an Autobot at one time."

Razor-Wind smirked lightly. "Oh boo-hoo. Nice of you to notice 'commander' Too bad it's past your optics." The sleek mech looked back to the Minicon. "What? Just because I recited an Autobot memo?"

"No. It was information" Optimus frowned. There was going to be absolutely no salvage, so that was that. "Leave the Minicon alone."

"Make me-"

PUNCH!

Razor-Wind landed on his back and held his cheek, looking up at the glowering mech before him, optics cold and merciless.

Razor-Wind stood and took something off of his armor, before smirking and slamming it onto the ground.

There was suddenly a cloud of smoke in his place. Optimus gasped and ran for the puff in an attempt to halt the Decepticon's retreat. He looked around in the smoke…there was nothing their anymore...how could he let him escape like that?

The Autobot looked around, scowling to himself, and getting ready just incase the Decepticon had in mind to try and fight again…

There…there was a figure in the smoke. Quickly, Optimus ran and reeled back his fist, then sent it straight for the figure.

"ACK!"

Optimus hit recoiled and he winced but quickly went back and grabbed the figure by the neck then reeled back his fist to get ready to punch the figure across the face.

"Let go of me, Decepticon!" the figure grunted.

Optimus paused and let the smoke clear…just to find out that he had Blurr at his mercy instead of Razor-Wind. "Blurr!" Quickly and gently, the Autobot leader let go of his soldier and looked over him to make sure he was alright. "My apologies, Blurr. I thought you were Razor-Wind"

"Yeah…me too." Blurr rubbed his neck and stood up, looking at Optimus. "I saw you and that creep fighting, and I was going to help…too bad for smoke bombs…"

"No kidding…" Optimus looked around, scanning the area for Razor-Wind, hoping that he hadn't lost him…all he saw was Leader-one, stuck on his back over by the creek…

"Where's Hotshot…" Blurr looked around, trying to scan the area with his computer, but it kept flashing 'error'. "and…Snow-Lilly…Primus if she's out there alone…"

"Don't worry Blurr, she'll be alright" Optimus looked back at the sniper. "If she's with any of my troops, she'll be safe."

Blurr paused and nodded. "Feel sorry for whoever she's stuck with…" he muttered to himself, as he began to follow Optimus' lead.

"We'll have to find a rendezvous point and somehow get in contact with the others…" Optimus looked around to see where he was…They were still in the forest…but it was obvious that they were far away from the original battle point…

"Come on, Blurr. We need to find the others…" Optimus paused and stooped down to help Leader-one off of his back. "And you are going to stay with us until we find Megatron."

"Optimus sir?" Blurr gave a strange look. "You're not really going to give that Minicon to Megatron"

"Yes. Leader-one and Megatron have been partners since the great war…Leader-one's not going to listen to any of us till this war is over." The Autobot leader frowned over at the Minicon. "He never listened to Orkono's orders either…"

Leader-one glared at Optimus sharply, before the two Autobots started to set out on their way, hoping to find allies. Reluctantly, Leader-One followed, a sick feeling in his circuits. Oh if Megatron knew about this…

***A***

Smokescreen walked the forest, holding his shoulder that was slowly leaking energon…"If I go on like this, by the end of the war I'll have a hole in my armor…" He muttered, looking this way and that, trying his best to find a way to get to Hotshot…that ridge was far too steep…now he had to find a way around…

This…'forest' didn't look like a forest…it was more like a jungle since there was more stuff than just trees and bushes…

The elder mech winced…it was getting a little bit lonely without Hotshot to tease or anyone else on his side…He felt bad for Hotshot…stuck with Demolisher of all things…he wondered if they could go five minutes before getting into a brawl…

Smokescreen paused as he got to another ridge…great…once again it was a dead end…it felt like nothing else could go wrong…

He heard metal hitting metal, and got his long-arm cannon ready…that was before he mentally hit himself for bothering…his cannon wasn't going to work…better check it out. Holding his shoulder, the soldier headed for the noise, preparing himself for possible combat…

His suspicion was confirmed when he got over the hill, and discovered Sideways holding Red-Alert in a head lock and pounding into the medic but good. Red-Alert was damaged and his visor was cracked and dark…it looked as though he couldn't see…

That was just enough for Smokescreen, as the veteran let out an angry yell and rushed for the brawl. Sideways paused his pounding on the wounded medic, then tossed him to the side and got in a stance…

But being the light weight that he was, Smokescreen plowed him over without any effort at all. Thrown to the side, the Decepticon landed on his back with a groan and felt a sting in his back…

Ow…

Smokescreen scowled at the traitor and then quickly went over to help the fallen medic. "Red-Alert! You ok, buddy?" As Smokescreen leaned down, Red-Alert gasped and swung at the air, almost hitting Smokescreen in the face.

"Whoa! Calm down Red! It's me, Smokescreen!" The mech paused and noticed that Red-Alert's visor was now black instead of red. "Red-Alert?"

"Smokescreen?" The medic paused to listen to his voice and then dropped his defenses. "Is that you?"

"Yeah. I got that traitor Sideways off of you" Smokescreen looked to the side, seeing the biker-bot getting up painfully. "Although it looks like he's not finished. Can you get up?"

"I-…I can't see" Red-Alert mumbled weakly, wincing as he tried to get up, his head moving as though he were attempting to look around, without any luck. Smokescreen allowed the medic to lean on him and he cast a harsh glare to the recovering Decepticon.

Sideways got his bearings and glared up at the two Autobots. Smokescreen hardened his glare and a cold scowl came to his face. "Stay where you are, traitor. Don't make me come down there and rip YOUR optics out."

"I'd like to see you try" Sideways smirked, before looking to the side…where did that Minicon go? He JUST saw him not too long ago.

"I'd love to." Smokescreen growled, and OH how he wanted to. If only his weapons were working and he had Liftor, he would gladly attack the turncoat and lay a pounding into him…Only, he felt obligated to take care of Red-Alert…that gave him a disadvantage…

The orange mech did notice that Sideways was looking for something…but what the heck-

"Where's Orko?" Red-Alert mumbled. "He was with me before Sideways jumped me…"

"Snow's Minicon? He's with you?" Smokescreen grimaced and looked around quickly. If they got the commander, they would surely be more than doomed…

"Sideways was muttering something about taking it to 'him'…For some reason I get a bad feeling about this." Red-Alert winced and felt around for his gun.

Smokescreen discouraged him with his hand and looked over to Sideways. "Probably to Megatron…don't worry, Red-Alert, he's not going to get anything as long as I'm around."

Sideways was not at all interested in the Autobots anymore. Since Smokescreen was most likely not going to abandon Red-Alert, that left him ample time to find the- ACK!

"ACK!" Sideways fell to the side as a tree branch hit him square in the face, knocking the turncoat back. Out of a tree, Orko jumped out, a nasty scowl on his face.

'I thought I got rid of you four million years ago, you double face!' Orko snarled, backing up. 'What's the matter? That horn head get too ugly for you to stick around with him?'

Sideways growled and got on his feet, glaring down at the Minicon. This one never was the cooperative one with any transformer besides a fellow Minicon…if only he didn't have a stronger personality…

"Watch your mouth, Orkono. You're lucky he made you more out spoken…but that was his first and last mistake" Sideways pointed his gun at him. "And that's GOING to be fixed."

Orko smirked slightly. 'Go ahead, double face…shoot! It's not going to do anything."

Sideways sneered angrily. "This will were off soon, you know that, _Commander_."

'Yeah, but not within the next thirty cycles.' Orko paused and glanced to the side briefly. 'I'd love to chat, but I also want to see your head fall off'

"What are you- OOFF!"

Sideways found himself hit hard by a hook, then tied up by a rope. The Decepticon gasped as he discovered that Smokescreen had tied him up with his grapple. "Wha-! I thought all weapons were disabled!"

"They ARE. Energy weapons, at least" Smokescreen said nothing else as he swung around several times and released Sideways into the air.

Yelling, the turncoat was hurled away and landed in the river below in the ravine. Smokescreen growled lowly, then looked down at Orko. "You alright there, little guy?"

'Orko. O-R-K-O.' The Minicon commander replied, crossing his arms.

Smokescreen tilted his head and blinked. "You're a little spitfire, aren't you?"

'Perhaps…' Orko looked over and a slight bit of concern showed in his optics. 'Is Red-Alert going to be alright?'

"He'll be alright…I hope" Smokescreen turned and headed back, leaning down and carefully helping Red-Alert to his feet. "Orko's safe, Red-Alert. Now let's find the others."

"…yes…" Red-Alert nodded and winced. His circuits were still shaken from the fall and he felt helpless being the one having to depend on someone. He had learned his lesson years ago…now it felt like it was happening all over again…He was sure he could trust Smokescreen though.

Orko watched as the two mechs started off and gave a glance around before following. 'Where's the kid…I feel slightly responsible for not being with her.'

"Who?...Snow-Lilly?" Smokescreen glanced over at the Minicon commander. "Hopefully she's with Blurr or Hotshot. I know how timid she is of everyone else."

'That doesn't make any sense.' Orko looked over to Smokescreen as they walked. 'I thought Autobots work together.'

"We do…and she does." Red-Alert muttered as he did his best to follow Smokescreen's lead, hitting a tree branch every now and then.

Orko stayed silent…if he was going to be this girl's partner…he felt as though he'd better get more acquainted with her…since she was the least likely to do anything to the Minicons…he liked her mostly…but of course…they both had to win each other's trust…that would be hard…He really didn't like Autobots OR Decepticons…

As they got to a clearing, he grimaced…was there really no other way to go?

***D***

"Let…GO…of…ME!" Snow-Lilly growled as Cyclonus drug her along, holding her by the wrist. The two Decepticons had somehow came to the conclusion of somehow they would need this femme…just how? They weren't too sure…

Snow-Lilly still had Jolt in her free hand, doing her best to protect the Minicon. Jolt wasn't too scared…but he was a bit concerned that Snow-Lilly was now being forced along on this journey with the Decepticons. Man, He knew if Hotshot were here, He'd be yelling at these jerks.

Cyclonus, however, seemed to be enjoying Snow-Lilly's desperate attempts to get free and her pathetic threats and pleads. Ahh! It was music to his audio sensors! It kind of reminded him of his first hostage back in training camp.

Starscream wasn't paying any attention to the femme…HE was trying to find a way to get down this mountain…there were some slides and muddy spots…the grass was tougher to get through than rock, since it was moist. The seeker paused for a moment to study were they were, then looked up to the patch of the 'forest' that he was pretty sure was the battle ground…it was still far off…

"grr…this guy has no sensors…" Snow-Lilly muttered, as Cyclonus stopped to urge Starscream to keep going for crying out loud. The femme looked to Jolt and looked around. "Hey…can you fly?" she asked softly, trying not to alert Cyclonus.

'I highly doubt it.' Jolt replied. 'My systems were affected as well. I don't think I can transform either for another ten cycles'

Snow-Lilly sighed lightly then gave the Minicon a small smile. "Don't worry. I'll get you back to Hotshot. I won't let you get hurt, honey."

Jolt looked at the femme and nodded slightly. 'Don't worry Snow-Lilly…we'll both make it…I hope'

Snow-Lilly smiled softly at the Minicon, then looked at the horizon. There had to be a way to signal that she needed help…but how? Weapons were on the fritz, the com-links weren't working, and Cyclonus had tried to warp…

Failing miserably…

Snow-Lilly zoned out for a moment, focusing on the rivers down below…they were moving at their own pace…some slow…some fast…some…moving large objects? The Femme paused and narrowed her optics, trying to see if she could make her vision zoom in if not anything else…something was going across the river…followed by larger things…

Was that-…

"Orko?" Snow-Lilly gasped and took a slight step up, trying to zoom her optics as much as she could, with the restriction on her system. Yes…yes! Orko was crossing the river with a hook in his hand, then as he got to the other side, Smokescreen and Red-Alert followed slowly via the line that Orko had attached to a tree limb.

"Smokescreen!" Snow-Lilly gasped and covered her mouth quickly and looked over at the Decepticons…luckily, they were too busy arguing…Snow-Lilly let out a breath of relief and looked at Jolt, shaking her head. "Remind me to NEVER…become a Decepticon…EVER…"

'Ditto…' Jolt shook his head at the two mechs.

"Shut UP Cyclonus, you have no idea what you are talking about" Starscream looked over to the copter bot. "I'm trying to lay out where we are so we can GET there"

"And whoever said that anyone's THERE?" Cyclonus growled. "For all we know, the others could be back at the base!"

"I highly doubt it" Starscream looked over the ridge. "I thought I heard Sideways yell, and I KNOW I heard clashes down there"

"Here's what I know" Cyclonus shoved Starscream a little harder than intended, which made Starscream lose his balance. With a yell, Starscream grabbed the nearest thing…which happened to be Cyclonus' arm.

All screaming, the whole trio got dragged down the mountain, rolling and bumping against each other. As they fell, the trio did their best to try and soften the fall…little avail though…

THUD

Snow-Lilly shook her head and looked around. Jolt was safe in her arms…and Starscream…was right on top of her. Flushing, the femme tried to struggle. "Ge- Get off me, Starscream!"

The seeker looked down at her and grimaced at the situation, then scowled. "I'd LOVE to…unfortunately, Cyclonus' idiotic BLENDERBUTT is SITTING on me!" He growled, looking up at the woozy Decepticon. Cyclonus paused and got up.

Starscream promptly got up and shook himself off, looking at Cyclonus with a death glare, who shrugged. Snow-Lilly got up and dusted Jolt off gently, making sure he didn't get hurt, then looking at the two Decepticons accusingly.

"It was STARSCREAM'S fault" Cyclonus defended.

"Yeah right" Snow-Lilly muttered. She shook her head and looked to the horizon. Maybe she could try and find them again.

"What IS so interesting?" Starscream growled, looking towards what she was looking for, half expecting an ambush.

"I thought I saw a dear friend in that direction" Snow-Lilly murmured softly, frowning.

"…." Starscream looked at Snow-Lilly and glared. "Did you now…then lead us in that direction"

"What?"

"WHAT?" Cyclonus looked to Starscream. "Are you kidding? Lead us to the enemy? Are you insane?"

"If she leads us to the Autobots, then she leads us to our team as well" Starscream frowned. "No doubt everyone else got separated. And since we have no weapons, she's under our control" He pointed at the girl. "We are 7 times stronger than she is. None of the Autobots will try anything with her with us."

Cyclonus looked over the femme then back to Starscream. "But-"

"Don't bet on it, idiot." Starscream glared at the copter bot, stepping up.

Snow-Lilly winced at the thought of leading these two against her will…the last thing she wanted to do was to get her team in danger…taking a step back, she failed to realize there was another ledge…Before she knew it she was finding out that gravity was not merciful…

…or was it?

Snow-Lilly gasped and looked up…Starscream had grabbed her wrist before she could fall…Did he just…save her?

Starscream glared at her and pulled her closer to the middle. "Watch your STEP…" he warned. "Now quit playing, and start leading."

Snow-Lilly took her wrist away and stared at him in disbelief. "…Than-"

"DON'T start thanking me. I am your ENEMY…now LEAD"

Snow-Lilly frowned, turned and obliged…what a jerk…


	8. Reunion

***A/D***

"I could very well mention something about a lack of lubricant or being too familiar in strange territory…only problem is-" Demolisher started to mutter as he pushed another branch out of his way.

"The PROBLEM is, you don't make any SENSE" Hotshot shot back, looking back at the Decepticon with a strange look on his face. Liftor and Sparkplug glanced over at the two mechs with a pause, in the middle of crossing a small creek.

Demolisher scowled at Hotshot and started to raise his hand guns, before remembering that that wouldn't work…MAN what he wouldn't give to shoot this jerk. "You wouldn't know AUTOBOT! I've seen a lot more things than YOU, rookie! Horrible, fierce things that only a Decepticon would know of!"

"Yeah I'm sure you have. I'm sure you were BORN with-…" Hotshot paused and shook his head and headed for the creek, giving the Minicons a nod of approval signaling the Minicons that he was coming as well.

"WHAT? Born with WHAT?" Demolisher demanded, following, Crumple-zone and Blackout behind him. "Answer me!"

"I'd rather not insult your mother right now" Hotshot said mockingly, jumping to the other side, and picking up the two Minicons in front of him, glancing at the large opticed Decepticon.

The 'con had a blank look on his face for a moment. "What does my mother have to do with-…YOU'RE the one not making any sense!"

Hotshot snorted lightly, before walking off, not bothering to wait for Demolisher to cross the creek. What an idiot…

The Autobot stopped walking when he heard a rumble in the trees. The rumble was followed by a yell, followed by clashes of metal. Glancing back to make sure Demolisher didn't try anything, the Autobot kept the Minicons close to him and ran ahead…the quickly stopped, finding a huge river with a waterfall that was running very quickly. Hotshot studied the water, then hearing the clashing metal again, he looked up and narrowed his optics.

He found that even though his weapons didn't work, his binocular vision still did. As he zoomed in, he could see Scavenger on top of a ruined building, in a fist fight with horn head himself, Megatron.

Scavenger was holding himself up quite nicely, even though Megatron was not in any way going easy on the Autobot veteran. Hotshot growled and contemplated on how to get over there to give Scavenger a hand…but how? This waterfall looked strong…

A bridge caught the Autobot's optic and he winced…the water was going over the bridge slightly…could he get over that?

"Megatron sir!" Demolisher, being the idiot that he was, called out. Running out blindly, the Decepticon plowed past Hotshot. With a yelp, the young Autobot stumbled and found himself falling on the ground. Reacting quickly, the Autobot sat up. "Wait! Demolisher!"

"I'm not going to listen to you Auto- wahhh!" Demolisher found himself swept off his feet as the current of the falls. In a panic the Decepticon grabbed the nearest thing to him…Hotshot's ankle. The Yellow mech yelped and clung to the edge of the bridge as he got dragged down, Demolisher latched to his feet.

"You jerk!" Hotshot grimaced as he tried to pull himself up, but found it difficult, since the current was too strong. He tried to keep his hands on the ledge…wait a sec…Hotshot gasped as he realized that the two Minicons weren't with him anymore. Gasping he looked to the side where he noticed Liftor and Sparkplug being swept downstream, trying to get to shore.

"NO!"

"Forget the Minicons! Pull us up!" Demolisher yelped in fear, trying to climb up the Autobot himself. Hotshot growled and tried to free himself from the Decepticon.

"Stop that! You're going to make us-"

Crrraaack!

Hotshot and Demolisher let out screams as they fell down the waterfall, Blackout and Crumple-zone looking on in surprise as the two mechs disappeared below into the water…

***D***

"When I get my hands on that mixed up little pathetic excuse of a Minicon" Sideways growled, one of his optics twitching. The turncoat had landed in the bottom of one of the stupid ravines quite a ways from where he originally was…

If only that Minicon was made the he was designed to work…

Sideways looked up and growled for a moment, then calmed down, an eerie chuckle coming to him. "At least everything is going according to plan as of now. With everyone separated and having to deal with each other, Orkono's little back-up plan may work for his disadvantage…"

Sideways took his arm and once again tested if he could get a hold of any of the Decepticons…not yet…almost there though about five more cycles and everything would be back to normal…

Another chuckle escaped the turncoat. "You're too noble Orkono…if only you didn't care about others, your plan would have foiled mine…" The Biker-bot looked up and pressed another button on his gantlet. It flashed a low green, then got brighter.

"This is Agent Sideways. Your Minicon commander has just started the plan into motion without his knowing. Now all we need to do is continue to confuse the two teams…find the Requiem Blaster, then maybe we can get back on track…"

Sideways looked around slightly. "There are only two problems. There is this one new Decepticon that watches me like a hawk…If this continues, I'll see how I can eliminate him…Also…Orkono's little plan has mixed up the Minicons…No sign of the Star-saber or the Skyboom shield."

As the Biker-bot continued to report he felt a power in his systems. The effects were starting to were off for the Minicons…not long after the rest will receive theirs as well. Sideways ended his transmission and started walking. If anything he'd better find at least one weapon.

****H****  
"What's the rush Alexis?" Carlos asked, riding on Grindor, trying to keep up with Alexis and Sure shock. "Why are we this determined to get to the base? I highly doubt Blurr's gonna be too excited to see us"

"Snow-Lilly will like our company" Fred said quickly, riding Oval uncomfortably. Any other day, he'd be complaining, but…you know…

"Get over your crush, yah moron" Billy smirked. "Blurr's way tougher than you'll EVER be"

"Would you guys shut up?" Alexis glanced back. "I can't get a hold of ANY of the Autobots. Not Optimus, Hotshot, Scavenger, Anybody!"

"All she picks up from Laser Beak is 'Signal Lost'" Rad looked over, riding Highwire as fast as he could.

"You serious?" Carlos grimaced as they got to the base. Quickly, the five kids ran inside and looked around. The base was nice and quiet…some stirring going on by some Minicons…but no Autobots…

"Optimus!" Alexis called out, hoping for some reason that an Autobot would be here. There was no answer.

"Dude, Maybe they went out to fight the Decepticons" Carlos thought outloud, looking around.

Alexis looked to the Hispanic boy and frowned. "Red Alert said Laser Beak could contact them even if they were on the other side of the world. Something's wrong."

"Do you think they're ok?" Fred whined, looking worried.

"The Autobots can handle themselves…but it wouldn't hurt trying to find them…" Rad looked over and ran for the control room, the others following him.

All that was on the screen was the place to where the Autobots had gone…Billy gave a weird look. "Well everything in the base seems fine" He muttered.

"Red-Alert? Come in" Rad tried on the main computer. A few noises were made…before the screen displayed a small box flashing 'unable'. Rad tried again with all the other Autobots…same thing…

Carlos bit his lip. "Dude, maybe we should warp over there…"

"Absolutly NOT" Alexis glared at the boy. "Do you really think Optimus would appreciate us getting them in more trouble than they may be?"

"Dude, I was JUST suggesting!" Carlos folded his arms and looked back at the computer.

"Well-…we could send Laser Beak" Fred suggested.

"Give me a break, we already tried to call the Autobots on that stupid thing!" Billy pointed out, figuring that this 'stupid' boy couldn't get any dumber.

"No- wait" Alexis looked over. "Laser Beak can still transfer data…just not to the Autobots!" She took Laser Beak and tapped on him. "Laser Beak, Fly around the room and transmit the data that you see in here onto the main screen, as if you were on the battle field."

Laser Beak opened up and did as requested, flapping his wings and circling the room, taping the kids. As expected from the girl, a picture of the kids came up onto the screen.

A small cheer came up on the group. Rad gave a thumbs up at Fred then turned to the flying Autobot. "Laser Beak! Go into the warp gate! We'll get your pictures after we send you"

As requested, the bird-bot flew out, and the kids got working on the computer; Anxious to see if there alien robot friends were alright.

***D***

"Starscream, how much longer? I know I could find Megatron on my own, if I could just fly out." Cyclonus whined as the unlikely trio slowly made their way down the mountain.

Starscream's optic twitched as he followed Snow-Lilly, determined not to say a word to the whining idiot behind him…He was wishing that Demolisher had got stuck with Cyclonus instead of himself…He would rather be stuck with OPTIMUS, rather than this idiot!

"I thought you couldn't fly?" Snow-Lilly gave a small glance back at the two Decepticons, Jolt still safely tucked in her hands.

"Shows you how much a femme knows" Cyclonus winked at Snow-Lilly. "I'm sure whatever's happened has worn off. Observe" With that the Decepticon ran ahead past Snow-Lilly and jumped off the ledge into the air….just to go pummeling down to the ground, landing with a loud THUD below.

Snow-Lilly winced, Jolt tried not to crack up, and Starscream just shook his head…he was actually embarrassed because his team-mate had a processer the size of a pea…

Snow-Lilly glanced over to Starscream hesitantly. "Is he always this…stupid?"

Starscream snorted and pushed Snow-Lilly out of his way slightly, so he could get to Cyclonus. "That's a NICE way of putting it." He muttered, doing his best to be slow on going down the steep passes…The Decepticon glanced up, his narrowed optics instructing her to follow.

Snow-Lilly really didn't want to…she had enough of this back on Cybertron…she didn't need it here…reluctantly she did as told. "Jolt…can you fly yet?"

'Almost' The Minicon said, motioning that he was at least able to rotate his blades. 'But I can't leave you. You're with them!'

"I want you to get to Hotshot" Snow-Lilly murmured, her voice getting lower as they approached the Decepticons.

'Hotshot wouldn't be too happy if I abandoned you either' The Minicon replied.

"But I'm just a femme" Snow-Lilly looked at Jolt. "Femmes aren't worth much."

Jolt looked surprised. 'Whoever told you that is a big fat lia-'

"Shut up Starscream!"

Jolt and Snow-Lilly were distracted as they saw Cyclonus and Starscream having at it.

"I do NOT have time for this, Blenderbutt! Don't make me DRAG you the whole way!" Starscream yelled at the copter-bot, seething.

"I'd LIKE to see you try!" Cyclonus shot back, holding up a fist.

"Cut it out!"

Both Decepticons looked over where Snow-Lilly was wincing, mentally berating herself for shouting at mechs. "Fighting's not going to get us back to our teams" She paused and thought for a bit. "There's a time and place for fighting and now isn't the time."

"Oh yeah? Says who?" Cyclonus snapped, hitting Starscream's pointed finger away from him.

"My brother" Snow-Lilly looked up and frowned. Now of all times was where she just wanted to get back at the base…she'd rather be training with a group of mechs than be here arguing with a Decepticon.

"Oh really? Then your brother's just a stupid peace-loving Autobot" Cyclonus turned back to Starscream to attempt to continue the argument.

CLONK

"Ow!" Cyclonus glanced over, where surprisingly, the femme had thrown a large stone at the idiot's head…her optics looked different…darker.

"Take that back" she growled, still holding Jolt close to her in protection.

Starscream looked over to the femme, only the smallest amount of surprise in his optics…Cyclonus on the other hand rubbed his head and frowned. "You know you're starting to get on my nerves, girly. I've been nice to you so far, but you're beginning to tick me off"

"You've been everything BUT nice." Snow-Lilly muttered. "And no one talks about Rev like that!"

"Rev?" Cyclonus blinked and snerked. "Is that your brother's name?...That's the wimpiest- URCK!"

Cyclonus winced and landed on his toosh, holding his nose, which was now bent. Starscream moved to retaliate for Cyclonus…however the mere sight of seeing Cyclonus get his blender butt handed to him by a girl was….entertaining.

Snow-Lilly panted for a moment then slowly drew her hand back which was now stinging like mad after punching the armored mech in the face. A slow steady terror hit her…man…as if things weren't bad enough! She winced and took a step back.

'I'd say way to go, but I have this funny feeling that we're fixing to get it' Jolt winced, seeing Cyclonus get up, seething.

Snow-Lilly had the urge to quickly apologize, but didn't really think that he deserved it since…he was a Decepticon…

Starscream watched and decided that he was getting tiered of Cyclonus and this rookie slowing the process up. "Cyclonus, would you do everyone a favor and keep your MOUTH shut for TEN cycles?" He asked grabbing the idiot by the blades and glaring at the bot. "I don't care how ticked you are right now, but if you had HALF a processer, you would know that you can kick her tail LATER."

"I really don't care what you think, Screamer" Cyclonus growled, pointing at his 'comrade' in annoyance. "I've had enough of trying to team up with an Autobot who doesn't even know how to fight!"

"I beg to differ. She's kicked your sorry butt three times already" Starscream smirked.

"Shut UP!" Cyclonus practically screamed.

Snow-Lilly gaped a little bit, thrown off. The sudden showing of frustration was obviously because of the separation...and of course…She shook her head lightly and looked around. As the two argued, the Autobot rookie made her way to the edge, finding a smooth slope…

She paused in hesitation…could she really make that jump? She doubted it…

A loud shot was heard from behind her and before she knew it, she was sliding down the mountain slope, yelping in surprise. What the- did she just get shot?...How?

Above, Starscream and Cyclonus paused for a brief moment before Cyclonus realized that his shot intended for Starscream hit the Autobot instead…more importantly…HE NOW HAD WEAPONS. Which now meant only one thing.

"Transform!"

The Helicopter transformed in mid-air, and his wave of cackles hit him. "Oh yippee! Finally!" The insane Decepticon cheered, flying up higher.

As realization hit, Starscream also transformed and flew in a circle before transforming in mid air back into robot mode then looking around. Below, Snow-Lilly had landed on her back and now she struggled to get up and with Jolt safely in her hands, she fled.

"No you don't" Starscream growled, flying after her, ignoring the severe case of ADD that his comrade was having.

The femme ran, trying to avoid the elite Decepticon, now that he was once again a full threat to her…not that he couldn't tear her to pieces up there…

She didn't want to debate right now…NOW she had to RUN! As she ran into the trees, the femme could only think about running, and trying to find SOMEONE on her team!

***A***

"Ow!"

"Sorry buddy" Smokescreen winced as he pulled the blinded medic up… "There's so many trees here, it's hard to choose right or left…" The older mech paused as his crane once again got stuck in a tree branch. With a frustrated sigh, the mech gently let go of Red-Alert and pulled on his crane in attempt to yank it out.

As the two mechs struggled to merely get through the trees, Orko stopped walking as he found out that they had reached another river…lovely…could it get any worse? The Minicon Commander shook his head and looked up, then paused seeming to realize that the patch of land ahead looked vaguely familiar.

'What the-' Orko blinked his optics as he realized they were close to the original piece of land that the Autobots and Decepticons had started fighting on. Oh lovely. Chances were everyone and their brother were heading to THAT location.

"Orko?"

The said Minicon looked over at Red-Alert who was still being lead around by Smokescreen. The temporarily blind mech appeared confused and his 'gaze' was somewhere past Orko, assuming he was looking at the Commander.

"What's wrong?" Red-Alert asked, his head bobbling slightly.

Orko sighed lightly and turned away from him, looking back at the patch of land. 'Well, first of all, there's more water ahead…second of all-'

Beep!

Orko paused and looked down at his wrist. **Power restored : all players. **Orko narrowed his optics, wait- ALL players? It had been that long all ready? The Minicon Commander paused and shook his head, then looked to Smokescreen.

Smokescreen looked back at the Minicon, a confused look on his face.

'I suppose now would be a good time to request help' Orko muttered, turning his back on the Autobots. 'After all, I'd hate to see you continue to lug around your comrade, endangering you both'

"…Uh- Orko. Problem…Our weapons are out." Smokescreen raised an optic. "There's no way-"

'Just call somebody' Orko looked over. 'Because my systems are back on.'

"What?" Red-Alert paused and gave a blank look behind his dark cracked visor. During the moment of debating, Suddenly there was a sound of a blast shot, followed by a helicopter sound and a jet sound.

"What- What the?" Smokescreen looked up suddenly and noticed on the mountain that they just left, Cyclonus and Starscream were now airborn, and Cyclonus seemed to be enjoying his power back, while Starscream seemed to be interested in something else.

A quick glance towards the Minicon and Smokescreen quickly barked into his com-link. "Smokescreen to any Autobot! Autobots down! Red-Alert is crippled and I'm not doing that great to defend him. We've got the Minicon commander safely in our protection, dose ANYBODY read me?"

….

..

"This is Optimus Prime! Smokescreen, I'm pleased to know you're alright. You and Red-Alert stay low, and keep the Commander with you. Blurr and I just fished out Hotshot, Demolisher, and two Minicons. We'll be there as soon as possible." Optimus' voice sounded relived, but strict. "Have you heard from any of the other Autobots?"

"Scavenger reporting" Scavenger's voice suddenly came in over the line. "I'd love to sit and chat, but I'm alone with a good number of Minicons with me, as well as Razor-Wind and Megatron pounding on me."

"Hang tight Scavenger! I'm on my way." Optimus' voice growled, the sudden flurry of movement getting on his nerves.

Orko glanced back at the two Autobots behind him, then glared at the river…

***A***

Optimus turned off his com and looked strictly at his crew. "Hotshot, you and Blurr get to Red Alert and Smokescreen. They'll need your protection. Liftor, go with them, I'm sure Smokescreen will need you. Sparkplug, glad to have you back aboard."

Sparkplug gave Optimus a small salute and a pleased smile.

Blurr patted Hotshot's back to make sure that his comrade wasn't too water logged. The sniper cast a glare to Demolisher, who seemed really timid of his company now. Not only was he surrounded by Autobots, he didn't even have his own Minicon anymore!

"What about Demolisher?" Blurr sneered. "I'm certainly not going to let him run around, free as a bird."

"No…" Optimus cast a glare in Demolisher's direction. He couldn't take Demolisher with him…he'd just end up helping Megatron…"Blurr, Hotshot, take him with you. Make sure you keep a close eye on him, and don't turn your back on him. Now that we've got our weapons back, and our com, he'll try anything."

Demolisher scowled. "Who says I'm going with any of you?" He yelled, getting his hand blasters ready. "I will NEVER take orders from-" Demolisher paused what he was saying as he noticed immediately three guns were pointed at him, all Autobots glaring at him.

"Then again, I guess I can deal with Hotshot's stupid yellow color"

This earned a scowl from Hotshot.

"Men, watch him" Optimus said once again, before he scooped up Sparkplug and ran off for Scavenger's location.

Blurr glared at Demolisher. "Hotshot, you lead. I'll stay behind Demolisher."

"Gotcha" Hotshot smirked over at Demolisher and ran off towards Smokescreen's and Red Alert's position.

"Move it, 'con" Blurr growled.

"I'm GOING I'm GOIN!" Demolisher growled, running after Hotshot, Blurr and Liftor right behind him.

Unfortunately for them, the forgotten Minicon, Leader-one, ran after Optimus, determined to foil their plans.

****A****

Scavenger growled as he ducked Razor-Wind's blades. Normally he'd be fighting hard…but with all these Minicons here, he couldn't make such reckless moves.

Megatron growled and launched his side cannon attack at the veteran, causing Scavenger to duck to the side. Megatron tried again but just missed once more. Scavenger growled and got in front of the Minicons. Glancing behind him he made sure all four of them were still there.

His Minicon, Roll Out was in front of the other three, making sure they were protected…only two of the Minicons behind him were grateful for his help…

However, Swindle kept trying to make a break for it, ending up being trapped by Longarm and Incinerator…Swindle growled and glanced back at the Autobot / Decepticon brawl…

Scavenger just got hit by Megatron's fist, but did everything in his power to avoid Razor-Wind's paralyzing blades. Scavenger couldn't seem to gain the upper hand, and kept backing away. Glancing behind him, he debated on calling for Roll Bar…but in order to keep Swindle in line, the other two would need him…

Argh!

"What's the matter Scavenger? Too concerned about the Minicons, rather than your own hide?" Megatron grinned, swinging his fists at him, then shooting at him. "Common! Fight back!"

"Don't tempt me Megatron" The Autobot growled, dodging the attacks. Out of the corner of his optics, he noticed Razor-Wind transform into a small, thin tank and drove quickly for him. Scavenger growled and ducked to the side.

This gave Megatron an opportunity to attack the veteran while he was down. Pinned, Scavenger could do nothing but muffle the attacks by defending himself by using his huge arms as a shield.

"Razor-Wind! Get those Minicons!" Megatron ordered as he kicked Scavenger and shot at him at close range, enjoying himself.

Razor-Wind transformed back into robot mode and glared at Megatron for a while, then turned and headed for the small group of Minicons. Roll Bar took a small step back, scowling at the Decepticon. Razor-Wind stepped up and grinned down at the small figures before him. All of them had stopped and were looking up at him, slightly backing away…even Swindle didn't want to be around this guy…he had seen what the creep had done to Thunderbolt…

Razor-Wind seemed to contemplate. "What's wrong, buddies?" He mocked. "You want your little buddy back? You can certainly see him." With that much said, the sharp Decepticon pulled out Thunderbolt out by the leg and dropped him on the ground. The Minicon hit the ground with a THUD, making the group grimace.

Thunderbolt winced and weakly got up, glancing at the Minicons before him. He looked back down, ashamed of his condition.

'Thunderbolt…' Longarm took a small step up in attempt to run to his former comrade and help him. A blade stuck itself in the way into the ground in between Longarm and Thunderbolt. This startled the Minicons and they jumped back, all looking up at the Decepticon.

Razor-Wind smirked at them. "Whoever runs first gets my blade…the rest just get to go to Megatron. That's a good offer, huh?"

"You are DEAD WRONG!"

Razor-Wind blinked, and before he could react, the fist of the Autobot leader had come into contact with his head, and then Razor-Wind felt two hands grab his body unmercifully, and THREW him across the battle field, SLAMMING into trees.

The Minicons quickly turned around, seeing a Super-Optimus, power linked, armed, and as mad as a hornet. Optimus looked down and his optics softened only slightly. "Minicons, get to safe ground." He ordered, not really caring which Minicons were there, only caring that they got out of harm's way.

The Minicons obliged, Incinerator and Longarm aiding Thunderbolt, and Roll Bar leading the way. Swindle on the other hand, growled and joined them only for a moment...That was…until he saw Leader One running up…and quickly ran towards Megatron's Minicon.

Optimus turned, and charged up his cannon and fired at Megatron, blowing him away from Scavenger, optics flashing angrily…

This fight would be finished…

In the shadows, a bright glow came from the trees. Razor-Wind slowly walked out, optics narrowed…

…with the newly re-found Star saber in his hands…

***A***

"I can't even BEGIN to tell you how HAPPY I am to see you guys" Smokescreen sighed in relief, scooping up Liftor into his hand. "Hey buddy! I was beginning tah worry about cha!"

"At least you can SEE them" Red-Alert mumbled weakly, feeling a little more relaxed now that there were two more on their side.

"Don't worry Buddy," Hotshot said, helping Smokescreen to get Red-Alert steady. He placed a hand on the medic's shoulder to give him reassurance. He glanced over at Blurr, who had a gun pointed at Demolisher, who was somewhat nervous about being outgunned… but then again…two of them were wounded…but it looked like even though Smokescreen had a bad gash in his shoulder, he could still whoop him…

Orko stood back, watching the Autobots reunite and make sure each one was alright…it kind of made him jealous, knowing that the Autobots were finding each other alright…but he couldn't keep control of his own soldiers…

He eventually broke his silence. 'Is the medic going to be alright?'

"He'll be alright…if we can get someone to repair his visor and get him into a CR chamber, he'll be as good as new" Smokescreen replied.

Hotshot grinned over at the Minicon. "You'd be surprised what Red's been through. He's got a tougher hide than mine, that's for sure."

Red-Alert let a small blush of embarrassment come to his face. "Don't talk so highly yet, Hotshot. We're still here and not at the base."

Orko let out the smallest of smiles, then frowned again, turning his back on the team and looking at the river…

Blurr kept Demolisher at bay and looked around slightly…and started to get uneasy. "Red-Alert, tell me Snow-Lilly's with you guys?" He said, looking towards them, then looking around a bit more urgently.

Smokescreen looked up suddenly. "Wait- Snow's not with you?"

Hotshot looked over, keeping Red-Alert steady, a confused look coming to his face. "No- We thought she was with you guys…"

'Is she with Scavenger?' Orko asked, facing them slightly, an aback look on his face.

"No…Scavenger said he was alone with some Minicons…" Blurr trailed off as a new wave of worry hit him. He took his gun away from Demolisher and turned. "That's it, I'm going to find her."

"Blurr wait-" Red-Alert started, before Blurr turned around, visor dark.

"Snow is still a rookie, there is NO way you can convince me that she'll be ok on her own" Blurr growled. "Besides, she's MY responsibility"

"She's ALL of our responsibilities." Smokescreen replied, a serious look on his face. "We're ALL looking for her, together."

Hotshot stood up and nodded. "We're all going, Blurr. We'll help you find her." He got his gun ready and grinned. "Besides! I challenged her to help me beat your record. There's no way I'll let her duck out"

Blurr stared at the team for a while before humility knocked at his door. "Thanks…"

Smokescreen helped Red-Alert up and gave the sniper a thumbs up. Hotshot grinned, then pointed his gun at Demolisher, instructing the Decepticon to follow them.

"Ungh…if this becomes any sappier, I'm going to lose my energon" The brute muttered in disgust, following the group un-willfully.

As the group started out, a blast sounded not a mile away, some trees bursting into flame.

"GIRL, GET BACK HERE!" Starscream's voice snarled in the distance.

"Speak of the devil" Blurr growled, breaking into a run. The rest followed as best they could. Hotshot glanced behind him.

"Don't worry about us, Hotshot" Smokescreen grinned. "I got it under control"

"I'm doomed." Red-Alert muttered almost lightheartedly.

Hotshot nodded and made Demolisher run with him. Demolisher was more willing now…knowing a comrade was near now, he could get AWAY from these Autobots!

***D***

Starscream landed roughly and glowered at the femme before him. "If you know what's good for you, you'll hand those over to me" he growled, advancing on her.

Snow-Lilly backed away, panting. Along her fall down the hill, she had discovered the Decepticon's 'Skyboom sheild' or whatever they called it…she clung to it, positioning herself in front of Jolt as Starscream and a newly arrived Cyclonus advanced on her.

"Hey good thing I did a fly around" Cyclonus giggled. "I found Crumple zone and Demolisher's Minicon." He boasted, weapons ready, and the said Minicons behind him, Crumple zone getting ready to power link if told to do so…

Snow-Lilly whimpered and backed away further, shield in front of her, and Jolt behind her. She wanted to hide her fear…but this reminded her of…

The femmes' optics shut tightly…she didn't wanna think about that now! She wasn't going to fail again…not again!

Starscream could practically smell her fear and smirked. "Come now, you don't want to fight do you?" he cooed smoothly. "This isn't your fight is it? You don't seem like a war-hungry soldier…in fact…you don't seem like a soldier at all…"

Snow-Lilly gasped lightly, and frowned lightly, still trembling, the shield gripped tighter.

Cyclonus grinned and advanced as well, letting Starscream continue to taunt her, grinning wickedly. Starscream continued his banter, slowly getting ready to strike. "You know, if you just give us that shield and that Minicon, then we'll be on our way; and you will be left entirely alone."

Snow-Lilly grimaced…forfeit the lives of the Minicons for her own?

"No deal, Starscream" She murmured. "I'm not going to let my team down again…I'm going to give the shield to Optimus, and I'm going to make sure that this Minicon is returned to my friend, Hotshot"

"Touching…" Starscream paused for a moment, a frown coming to his face. "I'll say it again. Give us the Minicons, and we'll let you live"

"No!" Snow-Lilly shut her optics, wincing. "I'm NOT going to betray my team!"

"hehehe! Oh Starscream! She's so cute! Let ME take a whack at her!" Cyclonus purred advancing.

Before he could touch her, though, heavy blasts came out of the trees, hitting the Decepticons, and forcing them back.

Starscream turned and gasped, getting hit by blasts from two different sources. Falling back, the Decepticon forgot about the femme, and put his sword in front of himself just as he was tackled by a yellow blur.

Snow-Lilly gasped as something went past her and forced Cyclonus into a tree harshly. Once the dust settled, Blurr loomed over the copter-bot, optics dangerously dark. Cyclonus moved to get up, but was punched HARD by the sniper, who's attacks didn't stop.

Snow-Lilly gaped at Blurr's actions…He seemed…furious…Gasping, the femme looked around…Hotshot was facing Starscream, and Smokescreen wasn't too far behind the yellow bot…Red Alert was leaning on a strong tree, and he seemed to be hurt…Snow-Lilly gasped in elation. Orko was beside the medic…he was ok!

The Minicon seemed interested in the battle, arms crossed and optics narrowed…he noticed Snow-Lilly, then flashed her a friendly grin…

A thud caught Snow-Lilly's attention and she looked back to the fight…Demolisher had run into the battle and tried to help Cyclonus…but Blurr was on a rampage…Quickly, the sniper had both of them pinned, then hit them together harshly. That was enough for them..

Cyclonus had flown away in retreat, Demolisher following suit in tank mode, and Starscream was trapped by the three mechs. Snow-Lilly paused for a moment…Starscream…

Blurr had his gun pointed at the seeker, as did Hotshot and Smokescreen…Although Blurr seemed a bit more merciless…It was confirmed when Blurr charged up his blaster, aiming to blast Starscream's wings off.

"Wait-…WAIT!" Snow-Lilly dropped the shield and ran over.

BOOM!

A tense moment passed, and the smoke cleared…Just to reveal that Snow-Lilly had pushed Blurr's blaster upward just at the last second, sending the blast up into the trees, hitting some branches, making leaves fly everywhere and a light smoke haze float around…

Snow-Lilly panted, holding Blurr's arms up-ward, looking the sniper in the optics. The sniper looked back at her, stunned…not expecting such a move…

Hotshot and Smokescreen looked up, startled by the blast…and even more startled by who diverted it…

But the most surprised was Starscream, who looked up at the group with wide optics, half expecting to be terminated, or at least badly damaged. As he examined the scene, he noticed the femme interceding for the seeker, a good grip on the sniper…

A tense moment of silence past before Blurr let his arms down and stared at Snow-Lilly in shock…and then his gaze got harsh…

"Decepticons! Fall back at once!" Megatron's angry voice came in over Starscream's com.

Starscream quickly stood and looked up hesitantly.

The Autobots looked back at him, un-trustingly. Blurr looked towards the seeker and his glare got dark once again. Starscream winced and quickly warped away, leaving the group of Autobots on their own…The Autobots stood in silence for a while before Blurr looked back at Snow-Lilly, who was now looking at the ground.

Blurr had a lot of things he could say…the anger he now felt…the confusion…the frustration….

But all he did was gently push her away from him and turn, heading towards Red-Alert to make sure he was alright.

Snow-Lilly watched him go, then looked back at the ground, a small sigh escaping her…she paused and looked up slightly as Jolt and the Skyboom Minicons came to her feet…The femme gently took Jolt in her hands and turned slowly, glancing at Hotshot, then looking back down quickly, realizing he and Smokescreen were watching her….

Hesitantly, and without looking up at him, Snow-Lilly gently handed Jolt to Hotshot. In return, Hotshot gingerly took the Minicon from her hands. Looking over his partner, the yellow bot looked back at the femme, who was still looking down…

Slowly, Hotshot put a hand on her shoulder and patted it softly, before turning and joining Blurr to aid Red-Alert. Smokescreen, however stayed with the femme, concern and confusion in his optics. The femme glanced up at him, and then looked back down.

Once again in her life, she had managed to betray her team…

***H***

Alexis got the location of the Autobots base into the computer, and had gone into the warp gate room with the boys in attempt to send Laser Beak to the site Manually…

"I sure hope this works" The girl murmured slightly. Before she could do anything, however, the warp gate activated, and in came the Autobots, startling the humans but good. Quickly gaining their bearings, the kids paused, then were quick to express their relief.

"Optimus! We were getting worried about you guys" Rad greeted, earning the Autobot's attention.

"Yeah, we couldn't get a hold of any of you…We thought something bad happened." Alexis agreed, looking over the group before her.

Optimus looked down at the kids gently. "Thank you for your concern, kids. We're alright, mostly."

"Mostly?"

Carlos glanced around…Smokescreen seemed crippled, but that didn't stop him from flashing a grin at the kids…Red-Alert was leaning on Smokescreen, an emotionless look on his face.

"Dude- Red Alert- are you ok?" Carlos asked hesitantly.

"I'll be alright…once I can see…" the Medic replied to his human friend.

"What happened?"

Optimus took a step up and motioned to the kids. "If you would, why don't you kids go to your own quarters for a while…"

"But-"  
"Sure thing Optimus" Rad jabbed Carlos in the ribs gently. "Let us know if we can help…"

One by one the kids left. Alexis paused and looked over the scene more closely. Smokescreen was helping Red-Alert, and Scavenger was starting to lend a hand, himself a little beat up…Some of the Minicons were beside Thunderbolt…they got him? He seemed weak, and in need of a CR chamber…Beside them Blurr, Snow-Lilly and Hotshot stood…Blurr seemed a bit peeved…and Hotshot was glancing in Snow-Lilly's direction…Snow was holding the Skyboom shield Minicons in her hands…and she seemed to know she was being watched…

Quickly, she started to walk to Optimus, earning his attention. Quickly, she set the three Minicons in his hand, and retreated quickly out of the room, careful not to step on Alexis…

"Snow-Lilly?" Alexis called.

"Alexis…"

The said girl looked over to Hotshot, who shook his head slightly. "Leave her alone…she's…not in the mood…"

"Oh…" Alexis looked down and then back out the door, wondering what all they missed…

***D***

"YOU IMBACILIC MORONS!" Megatron yelled, shaking his fist. "I Have the chance to Destroy the Autobots, and All I get from you miserable oofs, is INCOMPITANCE!"

The Decepticons were silent, none of them making optic contact with the seething leader.

Megatron growled and looked over his troops…Then looked towards Razor-Wind, who had the Star-Saber in his hand. Motioning to him, he growled. "The only thing we have now is my Star-Saber…we have LOST the Skyboom Sheild!"

"But Megatron- That energy came out of Nowhere! We had no power-"

"SILENCE CYCLONUS!" Megatron roared, casting a shot in the copter-bot's direction. Cyclonus gasped and quickly ducked, the blast going over him and hitting the wall behind him. He was quick to shut his mouth and whimpered silently.

As Megatron was seething, Razor-Wind scoffed and took a step up, holding up the Star-Saber. Megatron quickly looked in his direction, frowning. Although Razor-Wind had contributed to this team, he didn't trust this soldier. "What IS it, Razor-Wind?" The Decepticon Leader growled.

Razor-Wind frowned and quickly put the Star-Saber up, making Megatron wince, and making the other Decepticons put on their guard…

"I believe this is YOURS…I'm not going to hold your toy forever…I intend on finding mine." The sharp Decepticon growled.

A small pause and Megatron took the sword from Razor-Wind, a frown on his face. "Do not get smug with me, Soldier."

"If I was smug, would I have given you that stupid sword?" Razor-Wind scoffed. With that the Decepticon turned and started heading out towards his quarters.

"Do NOT turn your back on me, Razor-Wind! I'm not someone you want to annoy." Megatron growled threateningly.

"Oh is that so?" Razor-Wind sneered, before walking out of the room.

Megatron frowned and glared at the doorway. Although strong and a good fighter…this Decepticon had to learn respect for his betters. He would be put in his place soon…

Starscream watched the murderer walk out of the room and looked down slightly, looking at the corner of the room…what just happened back there? He was sure Blurr was going to put him into the pit quicker than he could process it…

So why did that girl save him? He had been shocked…Not moments before he was aiming on severely hurting her…then all of a sudden she denies the same fate to him…Stupid femme…she would regret her decision soon…

***M***

'Hold still Thunderbolt…You're in really bad shape' Longarm beeped, helping the silver racecar sit up. Thunderbolt winced as Longarm got most of the scratches out of his armor, and got some energon into his system.

Nearby, Orko and Highwire stood, watching. Orko had his arms crossed and watched intensely. The Commander was beside himself…he got one of his soldiers back…but seeing all that happened to him…Now he wanted to get that no-good Decepticon and slice him open.

No one did this to his soldiers…NO ONE…

"Orko…I thought you would be here"

Orko looked to the left slightly as Optimus and a newly fixed Red-Alert came in and looked at the Minicon Commander expectantly.

The Minicon frowned at them. 'That's COMMANDER Orkono.' He muttered softly.

"…My apologies… I know you're very upset about Thunderbolt's condition…I'm just glad that we were able to rescue him from the Decepticons." The Autobot Leader responded.

'Optimus…' Thunderbolt groaned and looked up weakly. 'He's gonna get me-…he's-…he's gonna…'

'Rest easy Thunderbolt' Orko said gently. 'I don't want you talking right now…'

'But-…But-'

'Longarm' Orko looked to Red-Alert's partner seriously. 'Give him a small dose and put him in repair mode'

'Yes sir' The Crane Minicon nodded and did so. In no time, Thunderbolt was out and laying peacefully on the birth.

Orko glared for a moment, wondering how long it would take to revive Thunderbolt. He turned and glared at Optimus and Red-Alert.

'What exactly do you want?' The Minicon Commander asked, somewhat annoyed. 'In case you don't see, I'm taking care of my solider, who's been ABUSED by that battle hungry War-Hawk.'

"It's Razor-Wind, actually-" Red-Alert started to say, before Optimus gently stopped him.

Optimus looked back at the winged Minicon and frowned only slightly behind his mask. "Orkono, I know you never had trusted us, even in the great war-"

'Why should I?' Orko faced him fully. 'All you Autobots and Decepticons ever did with my soldiers was to boost your powers. My soldiers are not tools, Optimus.'

"I understand that, and I won't make you-"

'You Autobots are the same as the Decepticons.' Orko glared at the Autobot Leader. 'I will not take any orders from you.'

"You must understand that we're trying to help you. The only way this war will end is if the Autobots and the Minicons team together." Red-Alert said to the Minicon.

Orko crossed his arms lightly and looked to the side.

"I understand that you want no harm to come to your troops Orkono." Optimus said gently but firmly. "I would readily lay down my life for my own soldiers…but I know that the only way to stop fighting, is to fight."

'Do you know how much sense that makes?' Orko mocked.

"When Thunderbolt was first threatened, you fought to try to save him…"

Orko paused at the Autobot's words then looked to the side, not having a ready comeback for that.

Sparkplug watched Orko, as did the other Minicons, some of which were wondering what the Commander would say. In reality, the Minicons were caught in the middle. They would follow the command of their leader, but they all had something for the Autobots that the Minicon Commander didn't.

Trust.

Highwire took a step up and put a hand on Orko's shoulder. 'Sir what do you think of your partner?'

Orko looked over to his Sub-Commander and gave him a strange look. 'My Brother has not yet been activated-'

'Nono, I'm talking about Snow-Lilly.'

Orko blinked and looked down, then looked back to Optimus. 'You're going to have to earn my trust, Autobot. You know it takes an instant to forgive the past…' the Minicon narrowed his amber optics. 'But it takes far longer to repair trust.'

With that much said, the Minicon Commander glanced at the resting Thunderbolt, and then walked out of the room. Then Minicons watched the leader leave, then looked at each other.

Optimus also watched Orko leave the room. He knew Orko…these things took time with him…

***A***

"She did WHAT?" Carlos and Billy practically screamed, looking at Jolt with disbelief.

Jolt grimaced. 'well- yeah…Blurr was fixing to annihilate him, but she quickly got in the way and defended him. It was shocking, no one spoke for nearly ten minutes…I think it was a shock…'

"No duh" Billy gawked. "She just saved the life of a DECEPTICON"

"I didn't think that she would pull off a Sideways" Carlos frowned. "She seems too chicken for that stuff!"

Nearby, Blurr looked up from where he sat, a look of dissatisfaction in his optics. Hotshot sat beside him, trying to make sure that his armor was completely fixed from the CR chamber…He wasn't really paying attention, but he knew what they were talking about…

…He should of told Jolt to keep quiet about the battle.

"Hold on guys, We don't know what happened" Alexis said, walking up. "Besides, Sparkplug said that nearly everyone was separated. How do we know why she did it?"

"Alexis has a point. Snow may know something we don't." Rad agreed. "Let's not jump the gun on her."

"Well she jumped the gun on Blurr" Carlos frowned. "Besides, Starscream was fixin' to get what he deserved."

"No one deserves death" Alexis frowned at Carlos. "You would know that, wouldn't you?"

"I just know Snow-Lilly wouldn't do such a thing" Fred sniffled. "She wouldn't defend the enemy"

"Well she did, stupid. She stopped her boyfriend from getting Starscream outta the way" Billy frowned. "If she defending the enemy, then she's no better than Sideways"

Carlos nodded at Billy. "Just because she don't like to fight, don't mean she have to act like a traitor-"

"SHUT UP!"

The room went quiet, and the kids turned around, wide eyed as Blurr stood up, glaring at the kids. Hotshot grimaced and also stood up, putting a hand on the sniper's shoulder. "Blurr…cool it. Don't take it out on the kids."

"I don't care what you think, Hotshot." Blurr shook off his hand, and pointed at the kids. "You kids have no right to talk about my sister like that. She's an Autobot, and she'll always BE an Autobot!"

"Dude- Blurr, I know you wanna defend your girlfri-….Say what?" Carlos paused and blinked.

"Your SISTER?" The kids chorused, all looking shocked.

"You mean she's not your girlfriend?" Billy asked, looking kinda embarrassed.

Blurr gave a bizarre look, and Hotshot looked surprised. "No one told you guys that Blurr and Snow-Lilly are part of the Changer trio?"

"Duo" Blurr corrected, glancing at Hotshot. Hotshot paused and nodded slightly. Blurr looked back at the kids. "Look. I understand that this team has been through a lot, but trust me when I say, you don't have to worry about betrayal from that girl…" Blurr frowned. "She hates the Decepticons…in fact, Razor-Wind was the one who killed our older brother, Rev…"

"Dude…seriously…" Carlos looked down. "That's harsh…"

"I seriously don't know why Snow-Lilly did that…and I'm not the happiest about what happened…but I know she wouldn't do anything to benefit the Decepticons." Blurr watched the kids, and then turned to leave the room.

"…Blurr?"

The sniper turned slightly.

"We're…sorry" Rad grimaced lightly, the group nodding with him.

Blurr watched them for a moment, and then turned back to walking out of the room.

Hotshot watched the sniper leave then looked back at the kids, slightly more sympathetic. "Hey…don't worry about it, kids." he smiled slightly. "Things will get better. We're a team, right?"

Rad and the others looked up at the Autobot and gave pained smiles.

Hotshot smiled back at them. "Trust me. Things will get back to normal."

***A***

Snow-Lilly sat on the ledge of the cliff, staring at the ground, not bothering to look at the sunset…a small sigh escaped her system…Why couldn't she do anything right?

…

'Hey…'

Snow-Lilly paused and looked to the side, seeing the Minicon commander standing near…The femme grimaced and looked away from the small Mech.

Orko watched her for a while, then walked over and sat down beside her, glancing her direction…she wouldn't look at him…The small mech drummed his fingers slightly, then looked at the sunset. The light was turning a rich pinkish-purple…A small thought crossed his mind about the outburst he had with Optimus…

'You know if that were any more purple, it would rival your armor' He finally broke the ice, feeling it was better to lighten the mood for both of them. 'But I don't think it would get as pretty as you.'

Snow-Lilly paused and looked over to the Minicon slightly, a look of confusion in her optics. Wasn't he going to ask her why she betrayed the team?

The Minicon continued his friendly banter. 'You know I knew this cute Minicon back on Cybertron. Pink armor, bossy attitude, determined nature…haha. She would yell at her brothers if they did anything, I mean ANYTHING stupid…but she loved them to death.'

The Autobot listened to the Minicon chat, wondering where he was getting…was he trying to cheer her up, or get her mind off the battle? What was he getting at?

The Minicon commander kept silent for a while; looking at the sunset, his demeanor relaxed…he seemed so much different now than what he was on the battlefield.

'You know, I have a brother…' He finally said.

Snow-Lilly blinked and looked at him more fully. "Really?...What's his name?"

'Marrilon' He smirked. 'When the name was given to him, he complained that it sounded like a girl's name…which it is…' The Commander chuckled.

Snow-Lilly let a smile come to her face and held in a giggle.

'After we were named, most of the Minicons were given better names…Ours were…experimental.' Orko leaned back. 'We were fine with it…better than numbers…'

"Your parents gave you experimental names?" Snow-Lilly blinked at him.

Orko paused and glanced at her slightly. 'Ah…I wouldn't say that…' the Commander looked at her, his features getting slightly serious, but a friendly smile stayed on his face. 'Marrilon used to get on my nerves…we were always stationed together with Thunderbolt and this other Minicon…Of course…Marrilon gave me the most trouble for a while…'

The Commander frowned and his tone got serious…

'Then there came a time when one of the Minicons defected, not obeying anyone. He caused a mass disturbance within our ranks…almost killed me, but Marrilon had my back…The soldier was punished by the leader…dunno what happened to him..' Orko glanced at Snow-Lilly. 'Marrilon was my brother, because no matter how much I wanted to rip his head off…he always had my back, and never let any harm come to me…I was the same…I never let anything happen to him.'

Snow-Lilly looked down and then looked to the side, Unaware that Red-Alert had come out, and was taking an interest in the conversation.

"Would you ever get mad at him, if he made mistakes?" Snow-Lilly asked the Minicon.

'That's putting it lightly.' Orko smiled lightly, looking at the sunset. 'There was this one time he did something, completely disobeying my orders…boy was I mad…he thought he could handle something on his own, and I knew he couldn't…I gave him the heaviest punishment...but I still forgave him'

Snow-Lilly looked to him. "But didn't he-"

'I had to be just, because I'm the commander of my troops…But I'm also a brother, and I love mine…The solders stayed by his side as well…' Orko looked to Snow-Lilly. 'Kid…you may have done something you're not too proud of…but that doesn't mean this team is going to turn their backs on you. You give up way too quickly.'

"You don't understand…I saved the life of Starscream…an elite Decepticon who's had his share of destruction…" Snow-Lilly looked down. "He should have let me fall"

Red-Alert blinked his newly powered visor, watching the conversation unfold…This sure saved him the job of interrogation…

Orko looked to Snow-Lilly. 'What do you mean? Let you fall?'

Snow-Lilly looked down. "I got stuck with Cyclonus and Starscream back there…I was so scared, I swear I could've sent myself into stasis, just by how scared I was…Since our weapons weren't working, we had to get down the mountain together…I had slipped…" She paused and sighed. "But Starscream grabbed my wrist and didn't let me fall…"

Orko watched the Autobot, a small look of surprise on his face at the story she was telling him.

Snow-Lilly glanced at him. "He saved me because he needed me…he sure didn't care, he just needed me…it made me feel like there was a small spark of good in him…I still didn't like him though…" She paused…

"But when Blurr was starting his attack on him…I had to help him…I owed him my life…I couldn't dishonor that." Snow-Lilly looked down and kept silent.

A moment of silence waved over them for a few minutes, before Orko stood up and faced the femme.

'Why don't you just tell the Autobots what happened?'

"Are you kidding?" Snow-Lilly looked at the Commander in horror. "Actions speak louder than words…I SAVED Starscream!"

'And you also denied him access to the Minicons you were protecting…and you handed them over to YOUR Commander' Orko frowned.

Snow-Lilly gave a hopeless look at the Minicon.

Orko continued to look at her with a firm, but temperate look. 'Why can't you tell them? Why are you so afraid?'

Snow-Lilly looked down at her lap. "…I don't trust them… I've had enough of being pushed around back on Cybertron…You want the truth? I don't want to be here!"

Orko watched the girl as she brought her knees to her chest and sighed in defeat. What she was saying somewhat reminded him of himself…he didn't trust the Autobots either…This Autobot was…different, though…

….

..

'So you don't trust Smokescreen…You loath the sight of Hotshot…'

"No!" Snow-Lilly quickly turned. "I like Smokescreen and Hotshot very much! Smokescreen is such a gentlemech…and Hotshot's really nice too!…"

'Oh but you don't trust them right?'

Snow-Lilly went silent, and looked at the Minicon, watching his optics…

Finally the mech gave a harsh look on his face. 'Look…I'm kind of on the same page…I don't like the Autobots…I don't want my soldiers used in battle…' He crossed his arms. 'You know I kinda feel like a hypocrite, talking to you…I hate the Autobots…I want nothing to do with them…haha…and here I am with you, talking with you and giving you advice.'

The Minicon scoffed. 'I don't care what happens to me…as long as my troops are alright. And I don't want my soldiers drained by the Autobots…'

"Orko…I would never hurt you" Snow-Lilly looked down at him in a gentle manner. "I don't even want to fight…but I wouldn't lose you without a fight-…" She paused and noticed his face…the slightest of smiles was making its way to his face.

'Looks like we both need a little help…' Orko murmured softly, somewhere in the back of his spark he knew that's exactly what Optimus was trying to get at... Snow-Lilly looked down to her hands, and then looked to Orko who was looking at her expectantly.

'I'll help you if you help me…' Orko offered his small hand to the Autobot. 'You get to know your team, and slowly build your trust for them with my help…and I'll slowly trust them being around my soldiers, with your help.'

Snow-Lilly paused and nodded, setting a finger in his hand. "…Just don't tell them I said I didn't want to be here"

Orko gave a goofy smile. 'You can trust me, Lilly.'

Snow-Lilly watched him, and then gave him a soft smile. "You can trust me, Orko"

Red-Alert watched the friendship bloom between the Autobot Rookie and the Minicon Commander, and a smile came to his face. Slowly, the veteran turned and made his way back inside. Tomorrow would be a big day. 


	9. Playtime

****A****

"We're going to need your help. Things have gotten hectic here." Scavenger said to the monitor. "We've got one of the weapons, but we got a call from Cybertron stating the tactician left Cybertron and is en course here."

"Hey, no worries! Yer Second in Command is En route! Nothin' to worry about while I'm on my way"

"Oh I'm sure" Scavenger muttered, turning off the transmission. Nearly three weeks had gone by since what had happened in the Amazon…since then not much had happened…but when they did, it was usually severe…Like the time Sideways had hacked into the computer and kidnapped the kids into cyberspace…that was really freaky, even for him…

The large Mech sighed and glanced behind him, where Carlos had poked his head in. "Scavenger?...Who're talkin' to dude?"

"Oh…just a big show off." The Mech managed a smile. "Optimus decided it was time for more help…this war gets bigger with each battle, Carlos."

"I know…It's like it'll never end." The boy crossed his arms and looked to the ground. "Every time things start to get peaceful, it all goes down the drain."

"Perhaps…" Scavenger turned and looked down at the boy. "But don't worry, Carlos. What is started will end, and hopefully it ends with our side winning."

"I guess…" Carlos looked up at the large Autobot. "Hey, Hotshot said something about a field test today. Are you guys going to train away from the base again?"

"Yes. Optimus felt that some of us need to help others on our weaknesses. A field test will help us do just that."

Carlos put his hands behind his head and smiled. "Can we watch?"

"Do I have a choice?" Scavenger smiled back.

As they talked, Snow-Lilly came in with Orko, and noticed the conversation. Orko grinned and took out a cup of water and dumped it on the boy's head, making him yelp in surprise.

"Hey!" Carlos shook his head dry and looked over, a smirk on his face. "Oh it's on now, dude! You're not the ONLY one who knows how to pull pranks."

Orko snickered and let the boy walk out, watching him. These humans were quite fun…he was glad Highwire had helped him get to know them.

Snow-Lilly smiled at the departing human, and looked back up at Scavenger. The Mech looked at her expectantly, his calm conduct remaining.

"Good Morning Snow-Lilly" He greeted. "Is everyone ready for the exercise?"

"Everyone but Hotshot, Sir. He's still half asleep" She stood at attention and looked a bit calm, but still nervous. Over the weeks, Orko had given her tips on how to present herself…be calm, but respectful…

That was a bit easier when Smokescreen had confronted her about her conversation with Orko…

***FB***

Snow-Lilly watched the kids as they played a game of hide and seek with the Minicons in the storage room. Rad was…'it' and he was looking for the others…he managed to find Liftor…but he was having trouble with the other Minicons and kids.

Orko stood on the railing, having a full view of where everyone was, as did Snow-Lilly. It was cute…

"You know I'll have to join them next time they play this…I am pretty good at stealth." Orko grinned. Snow-Lilly chuckled and shook her head. "I would be the first to be found…"

Orko thought about this and then grinned. "Yeah you would." The duo shared a laugh.

"Snow?"

The said femme looked over, seeing Smokescreen and Red-Alert. Smokescreen motioned her over. "Can we talk to you, honey?"

Snow-Lilly winced and looked to Orko slightly. The Minicon Commander was silent for a moment, but then nodded at her to go ahead. Slowly, the femme made her way over and looked up. Smokescreen peeked in and smiled. "Kids playing a game?" he asked.

"Yeah…something about hiding and seeking…" Snow-Lilly replied.

Leading her out into the hall, Red-Alert turned towards her. "Snow-Lilly, I've got to talk to you about yesterday."

Snow-Lilly tensed…she really didn't want to talk about yesterday. If there was anything she'd rather do, it would be to take back what happened yesterday…

"I heard you and Commander Orkono talking last night."

Snow-Lilly paused quickly. He HEARD all that? Now what was she going to say?

"I understand that you're not comfortable with this team, but the only way we're going to be a strong team is if we all work together…" Red-Alert paused and continued. "You're going to make mistakes…it's called life…but if you continue to live in fear of making mistakes, then you'll be too scared to do anything."

Snow-Lilly grimaced and her spark tightened. "But I-…"

"Snow-Lilly, we like you…we just wish that you would trust us, and like us back" Smokescreen said, looking at her gently.

"But I do like you" She protested.

"Sometimes it doesn't seem that way." Red-Alert replied. Seeing the troubled look on her face, he softened a little bit. "Snow-Lilly, Trust is a two way street. It only works in full strength when both team players trust each other. We trust you…but we want you to trust us."

Snow-Lilly stayed silent, and looked down, shame filling her spark.

"…By the way…you did a commendable job sparing Starscream like that…"

"huh?" Snow-Lilly looked up, confused.

"Your actions were actions of honor…not betrayal. A true Autobot leader knows that." Red-Alert gave her a small smile.

"We told the team, so you don't have to worry about anyone thinking you're defecting." Smokescreen smiled at her and patted her shoulder. "So…can you count on us?"

Snow-Lilly looked up, small tears in her optics. "mm-hmm" was what she could manage.

Red-Alert smiled and nodded at Smokescreen. "Snow-Lilly…welcome to the team."

The femme shared a smile with the mech, and watched as he nodded, and turned around to go back to work. After a moment, she grimaced and looked to Smokescreen. "He said he heard me and Orko talking right?"

"Yeah" Smokescreen blinked. "He briefed the team…don't worry, with a little time, I know you'll fit right in."

"Well I hope you're right, because being the only girl on this team is kinda…weird"

"HAHA!" Smokescreen grinned at her. "Don't worry, hon. Who knows? You might end up kicking our butts!"

***FB***

Snow-Lilly smiled lightly at the memory…pausing she pulled herself out of her thoughts and looked back up. Scavenger walked over and motioned to her. "Tell your brother that I'm ready. We'll get this thing started as soon as Red-Alert and I set a location"

"Yes sir" Snow-Lilly nodded, and turned, leaving the room, Orko behind her.

"Well that went well." Orko said, firing up his jets and flying up, landing on her shoulder.

"Yeah, now all we gotta do is make sure Hotshot is awake." She looked over at her Minicon friend. "I really didn't want to tell Optimus that Hotshot was up till like 2 in the morning."

"Yeah well, it's a good thing you did. It'll make the base more on their toes about hours." Orko chuckled. "Besides, that bot needs to get up and train."

"No duh" Snow-Lilly chuckled. "Hotshot told me that Scavenger snores…but all I've been seeing is him snore instead." The two laughed softly. Snow-Lilly rounded a corner, looking for Hotshot's quarters. "l wonder where Optimus is going to have us train…"

Orko paused and glanced to the side for a brief moment. "I think he said something about the Antarctic… Whatever that means…."

The purple femme smiled at the Minicon. "As long as you don't pull any pranks…" She paused and opened the door to Hotshot's room and looked around. "Hotshot?" The duo looked in the room, greeted by soft snores.

Snow-Lilly and Orko looked to each other slightly, before the femme stepped in and approached the recharging birth inside the semi-dark room.

"I'll get you…don't worry Wheeljack…I'll get you…"

Huh?

Snow-Lilly blinked and approached the Mech, putting a hand on his arm and shaking him lightly. "Hotshot? Hotshot, wake up"

The Mech had a little drool hanging out the corner of his mouth, and his complexion was tensing…

"Wheeljack…no…Wheeljack"

"Hotshot?" Snow-Lilly blinked and put a hand to his chin, gently shaking his head.

Orko tilted his head and frowned. "Sounds like he's having a nightmare…better wake hi-"

"NO!" Hotshot's optics busted open, and with a swift move, he hit Snow-Lilly and Orko away, took out his gun, and jumped on top of Snow-Lilly gun aimed at her head. Snow-Lilly gasped and Orko sat up from where he landed. "Lilly!" Orko yelled, wincing.

Hotshot glared down at Snow-Lilly furiously, gun ready to fire….

…

"Snow-Lilly!" Hotshot's face reflected horror and he quickly tossed his gun away. "I'm SO sorry! I thought- I thought!" The Autobot was at a loss for words as he quickly got off of her and helped her up, holding her shoulders to keep her steady. "Snow-…I didn't know-…What are you doing in here?"

Snow-Lilly breathed quickly, looking at the Yellow Autobot in surprise. "I-…Scavenger sent me to wake-…to wake you up-…it's- It's time for-…uh- Training's today…"

"Wake up?" Hotshot looked to the side lightly. "…It was just a dream…" he let out a small breath.

"Hotshot-…are you alright?" Snow-Lilly asked, looking at the yellow mech with concern. "You seem troubled." She put a hand on one of his. "What's-"

"Nothing- It's nothing, Snow" Hotshot looked down and frowned for a moment, then looked back at her, a painted smile on his face. "Just- Just a nightmare…we all get 'em."

Orko tilted his head at the two, pondering Hotshot's condition, then cleared his throat. 'Hotshot…the team is ready when you are.' He muttered, looking up at them.

Hotshot glanced down at the Minicon and nodded. "Yeah-…Yeah- tell Scavenger to hang on and give me five cycles…"

'Alright.' The Minicon Commander crossed his arms…

Snow-Lilly looked back at Hotshot. "…Do- Do you want me to stay and help out?"

"No…no, thanks Snow" Hotshot smiled at her. "You go with Orko"

"Alright…..you-…you can let go of me now…"

Hotshot paused as he realized he still had a grip on her shoulders. A faint blush came to his face as he let go of her and backed off, embarrassed. "s-sorry…"

Flustered, Snow-Lilly walked out, glanced back, and went on her way to the control room, Orko behind her.

Hotshot watched them go and watched the door close, and looked down. "Hotshot, you idiot," he mumbled. Quickly the soldier picked up his gun and put it back in its place then looked around, slightly stretching…

That dream again…man…could he ever get a break? Sighing, the mech looked at himself in his mirror. "Nice impression on the lady" He mumbled sarcastically, rubbing his face. He took in a breath and shook himself.

I thought I got over that tragedy…

***D***

Razor-Wind sat, optics narrowed, looking around the scenery around him. This land was desolate…no sign of life around anywhere…it kinda reminded him of the moon, with how white it was. The Decepticon growled, optics narrowing…how could he just LET Optimus slip by like that? He had the Star-saber… he SHOULD have used his blades. That would have paralyzed the Autobot leader.

He kind of remembered being an Autobot…phht, but that never was enough fun…he had enough of their rules, and he wasn't going to take orders again..

The sharp Decepticon scoffed and kicked at a batch of snow beneath him. He would get his toy back from those bleed-spark Autobots…and he'd make SURE what happened would NEVER happen again…

After that incident, he noticed that things had gone up and down…they snagged another Minicon…and that dude, Sideways was seeming a little more crafty…

Razor-Wind narrowed his optics…there was something wrong about that dude. He didn't seem very Decepticon like…ok, he was vicious in battle…but he had never even heard of this guy, much less-

Razor-Wind looked down and brought up his gauntlet. "This is Razor-Wind, whattyah want?"

"Ah, so it's true…you did go AWOL and go to Earth to join the war." A voice came over his com-link.

Razor-Wind paused and blinked, a slow smile coming to his face. "Well well…look who decided to join the party" Razor-Wind stood and smirked. "What's the matter? Battles on Cybertron not exciting enough?"

"Don't get smart with me. I'm almost in range of Earth."

"Won't do you any good, _sir_. The Decepticon base is on the Moon" Razor-Wind looked around, suspicious that he heard a sound in the distance, besides his com-link.

"I am well aware." The voice said smoothly. "In a couple of solar cycles, you will know I am around."

"Oh really? Why aren't you around now?" Razor-Wind asked absent mindedly, looking over the horizon, seeing a faint light in the distance…what was going on over there?

"A minor problem with a neighboring planet. I suppose I got too close for their comfort…didn't bother them unfortunately…had no time to play."

"humph…Hate to cut this pleasant conversation short, but I have something that requires my attention." Razor-Wind looked to his com-link. "See you in a few days, commander Thrust." Without a good-bye, the Decepticon turned off the com-link and stood, facing the light that had died down and was no longer visible.

Without a word, the Decepticon cracked his knuckles and headed over slowly, walking against the sharp cold wind that opposed him.

***A***

The six Autobots grunted as they hit the snow. Optimus looked around, getting a good look at their surroundings…yes…no humans or animals in sight…this would be a perfect training ground.

He turned around and looked at his troops…He left Red-Alert at the base to watch over the kids and keep an optic on the base…

"Alright Autobots…today we will be practicing stealth, agility, and teamwork. It's awfully icy out here, so stay with your team, unless your team leader tells you otherwise. Understood?"

"Yes sir!"

"Alright. Both teams will have a slight advantage over the other in some form. Hotshot, you will be leading Smokescreen and Blurr. Scavenger, you and Snow-Lilly are with me." Optimus gave out his orders, waiting for a response from the team.

Hotshot and Smokescreen gave a thumbs up at each other and Blurr leaned back a little. Snow-Lilly gave a noticeable wince, but quickly hid it. Orko looked up at her and grinned. 'Hey no worries, Lilly. You and I will-'

"Just a minute, Orko." Optimus interrupted the Minicon. "In this exercise, we will be mixing the Minicons"

Orko's mouth dropped lightly. 'D-Do what?'

Optimus looked up and motioned. "Men, let off your Minicons."

At once, the order was obeyed, and the Minicons landed on the ground, looking up in expectation.

Optimus nodded and looked to Orko. "With your permission, I'd like to continue."

Orko crossed his arms and moved to make a retort; before he glanced to the side for a pause…He then looked back to Optimus and gave a slight nod.

Optimus nodded back to the Minicon Commander, then looked to all the Minicons. "Minicons, assemble in the middle." He said, motioning Sparkplug to do the same. The Autobot then separated them into two groups, then looked to Snow-Lilly.

"Snow-Lilly, I want you to count group two of the Autobots, and then count out the Minicons. Whichever number matches, that will be the partner match-up" The Autobot leader explained.

Snow-Lilly looked confused for a moment, and then did as told. Ultimately, Blurr had Sparkplug; Smokescreen was with Roll-bar, and Hotshot was with Orko. As she ended, she noticed that Optimus had done the same thing with the other half of the Minicons. Optimus had Jolt; Scavenger had Liftor, and she was stuck with Incinerator. This thought made her feel slightly relieved. It was almost like partnering with Blurr once more…

Orko looked up at Hotshot, who gave him a grin and a thumb up. "Hey bud! Glad you could join the team," he greeted. The Minicon smiled slightly…Hotshot reminded him of Marrilon…

"Alright Autobots, listen up. We will separate into the maze of small ravines around here. The snow is slippery, and if you're in a calm area, it will reveal your position. However, if you're in the wind, you will have cover, but it may affect your accuracy." Optimus motioned to the Minicons. "You have each other's Minicons. This is to build team work…also, the team who recovers their own Minicons before the other team will win."

The Autobot leader looked to the Minicons. "Minicons, I ask you not to aide them. Act as though that the partner you are with is your partner. Also, be careful when you are shooting at each other. If your blaster is on too high a setting, the wind might make the blast harsher on your team. Use low or medium power. Do not power-link with the Minicon you are partnered with. Their link belongs to their original partner." Optimus stopped and looked over his troops. "Any questions?"

Snow-Lilly slightly raised a hand. "Sir-…Um…how 'come the balance of power is…off?" the femme asked hesitantly.

Optimus smiled at her. "Good question Snow-Lilly. Our team will have an advantage in strength and melee. You will be our speed. On the other hand, Hotshot's team will have advantage on speed and accuracy. Smokescreen will be their strength and melee." The leader looked over his troops. "Any more questions?"

Silence was his answer.

"Alright, move out men" Optimus paused for a split second and glanced to the side. "I mean, Move out team."

At the order, the Autobots and Minicons did as told, each team going their own way together. Snow-Lilly cast the slightest of smiles at the Autobot leader, before taking Incinerator in her hands and following Scavenger.

Optimus followed her, ready to get the exercise in motion.

Above, Razor-Wind looked on, leaning against the wall of the small canyon he was in…_So…you all are playing a game are you?_ The Decepticon smirked. _I want to play too…_

***H***

"I kinda wish we could go too. It's been months since we've been on a mission with the Autobots…" Carlos muttered, watching the screen, sitting at the table, eating lunch.

"Knock it off, Carlos. Optimus knows what he's doing. I'm sure they just want us to be safe." Alexis said, taking a sip of her lemonade. "Besides, it's not a mission, it's training, and we want the Autobots in top shape, right?

Rad looked at Carlos, mashed potatoes on his fork. "I was surprised that Blurr was the first one ready for this. Since Hotshot slept in, I guess Blurr got the upper hand..."

"Blurr, I'm not surprised." Billy scoffed, playing his game boy, slightly chewing on a chip. "He's always been the serious type"

"Red-Alert was like that…sometimes he still is" Carlos looked to the side, a tiny smile aimed at the medic who was adjusting the monitor to be less static.

"They're only stern because they care" Rad said, eating his mashed potatoes.

"Yeah 'ell, they 'eed' oo be 'icer" Fred mumbled, mouth full. Alexis shot a glare at him and frowned. "Must you do that, Fred? None of us wants to see your nasty food."

"Huh?"

"Aw Comon Alexis, you know it's endearing" Carlos grinned and chewed his peas, then stuck out his tongue at her, mashed peas still in his mouth.

"Carlos! EW!"

***A***

"Hey Smokescreen, do you recall exactly where we are?" Hotshot asked, looking around the snowy plain.

"I think Optimus said something about penguins…or ants…" The elder bot gave a sweatdrop. "To be perfectly honest, I wasn't listening during the first briefing."

"How pleasant" Blurr muttered, looking around, then looking back to make sure Sparkplug was behind him. The Minicon was keeping up mostly. Sometimes the snow was a little thick, other times it was fine…

Hotshot climbed up a large chunk of ice rock, then helped Orko up. Orko looked around. "Why can't I fly? I can easily glide in this wind."

"I would discourage that, Orko." Blurr looked up. "Optimus said that sometimes the wind gets strong out here."

"Yeah, and we wouldn't want you to get messed up out here" Smokescreen grinned, helping Roll-bar.

Orko looked around and narrowed his optics, scanning the area. This kinda reminded him of the mix-up a few weeks ago…man that was torture… Since then he had learned how to work with some of the Autobots…his troops had been a major help…

He still wasn't completely comfortable…Hotshot was pretty cool…he acted a lot like Marrilon, so he warmed up to that Autobot quicker...He was attached to Snow-Lilly…she was like a sister to him…he felt as though he could trust her with his darkest secrets…The Minicon Commander paused for a moment…maybe not yet…

"OW!"

Orko looked over, seeing that Smokescreen had accidently hit Hotshot over the head with his crane. Smirking, the Minicon gave a chuckle at the scene.

…WHOOSH…

Orko paused and quickly turned around, taking out a blaster, his amber optics narrowed…

"Hey…what's the matter Orko?"

"You alright, Orkono?"

The Minicon Commander paused for a while, then put his blaster back in place. He turned back to the Autobots. 'Just thought I heard one of the other team…'

"Oh great, we better get to cover before they sic Snow-Lilly on us" Blurr frowned.

"Why? Is she a good shot?" Hotshot asked, running to a barrier, finding shelter for himself and the others.

"Not really…but she's faster than me." Blurr looked over to Hotshot. "I'm one of the fastest snipers, but she can out race me."

"That's both a good and bad thing." Smokescreen got his blaster on a light setting, not wanting to hurt his comrades in this exercise. "It's bad out here, since there's so much snow…"

'I don't think Optimus is that stupid' Orko muttered… he suddenly yelped as sharp blasts were fired at them.

"WHOA!" The three Autobots ducked as blasts were hurled at them.

"How'd they find us so quick?" Hotshot asked, peeking out. As quickly as the blasts started, they stopped, the air quiet once more. Looking upwards, Hotshot let out a confused moan. "Man, I'm gonna chew Scavenger out once this is over."

"That's not like him to just shoot." Smokescreen blinked, looking down to Roll-bar. "He's usually based on stealth despite his size, right?"

'Pretty much' the Minicon replied, looking off slightly. Sparkplug and Orko looked towards each other, confused.

"Hey Scavenger! That wasn't funny!" Hotshot called. There was no answer except a low chuckle and then the sound of something scurrying away.

"huh?" Hotshot stood and ran after the noise but then stopped…whoever it was, appeared to be gone…

Orko narrowed his optics slightly…that was a little more than weird…Why would Scavenger just shoot and run?

"Hey Orko?"

The said Minicon looked over to Hotshot somewhat curiously.

"You think you can use that scanner of yours?"

Orko shrugged and did so, scanning the perimeter. "…I'm getting nothing" The Minicon Commander seemed confused. "Why would- huh?" He paused as he locked on to a figure a quiet a few yards away…

"Oh-…Optimus is to the north"

"Maybe it was Scavenger…" Blurr looked confused. "Just doesn't seem like a normal attack he would do…"

"Maybe we're supposed to act how the Decepticons would act in battle…you know…to keep us on our toes to possible attacks" Smokescreen suggested.

"I suppose that makes sense" Blurr replied, following Hotshot, who began to move again.

Orko stayed behind lightly, optics troubled…that just…didn't seem right…looking back, the Minicon Commander ran to catch up with his group.

***A***

"Huh?" Snow-Lilly paused her walking and looked to the right momentarily.

Scavenger looked back and stopped walking. "What is it Snow-Lilly?" he asked, wondering what could have caught her attention besides the cold wind. Even to him, it was making his circuits tense slightly, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle…

The femme blinked, Optimus stopping behind her, and looking in the direction she was looking in. Maybe he could see one of the other team and they could begin the hard part…

"Just thought I heard something." Snow-Lilly looked to Scavenger. "Maybe they're closer than we thought."

"This wind can give good cover. I wouldn't be surprised if Hotshot chose to go one way, then start after us immediately afterwards." Optimus looked over. "Perhaps we should get back into the ravine."

Scavenger seemed thoughtful for a moment, then nodded, looking down. "This way, Liftor". He called to the Minicon who had stopped driving in the snow. The called Minicon turned and headed for Scavenger and the others.

Optimus went down first, then turned around and helped Snow-Lilly come down. Scavenger followed suit, then made sure the three Minicons got down safely. He looked around and tried to determine which way to go…

Jolt looked around, looking for anything that looked like a trace of energon…since that's what they ran on…it would help if they had recued Hawkeye by now…The Minicon looked down then paused.

'Optimus!' The Minicon pointed to some footprints in the snow. Optimus looked down and examined them…

"There's only one set of footprints…" The leader somewhat dumbly pointed out.

Scavenger made a slight look. "Would Hotshot go ahead and split his team up already?"

"I'm not too sure…Scavenger, you stay here with Liftor and keep watch. I'll take Snow-Lilly and the other two Minicons and go see where these foot prints go…" Optimus ordered. "I want to see why Hotshot would make two rash decisions."

Snow-Lilly winced and looked over. "M-Maybe he's trying to confuse us…" she suggested, then looked away back to the footprints, watching Incinerator, who was looking over the large footprint.

Optimus looked to the femme. "Perhaps…" The Leader looked back to Scavenger then nodded. "We'll return shortly." With that, Optimus led Snow-Lilly and the other Minicons in the direction of the prints…

…Above, Razor-Wind chuckled….seeing them like a bunch of insecticons in a maze was entertaining…

Optimus watched the foot prints, wondering what kind of way this was going…

"S-Sir?"

Optimus glanced at Snow-Lilly and waited for her to speak…before he had to encourage her a bit. "Go ahead, Snow-Lilly."

"Why are we acting so serious? Surely Hotshot wouldn't plan an ambush on us?"

Optimus smiled lightly behind his mask. "Actually, Snow-Lilly, during these exercises, almost anything goes. That's why we keep our weapons on low power. We have to treat the other team as though they were Decepticons. We fight as though it's a real battle so we can be prepared in a real battle."

"So-…we won't actually hurt them."

"Of course not." Optimus smiled as he heard a sigh of relief behind him. "You've gotten attached to some of my troops."

"S-Sorry sir"

"Don't be, Snow-Lilly. I'm glad to know that you're warming up now. For a while I was wondering if I'd-" Optimus paused as he saw a new pair of foot prints coming from another way…however…this track of prints continued in the opposite direction…

"Snow-Lilly, keep following these prints. I'm going for these over here." Optimus looked over to the femme. "Copy?"

Snow-Lilly paused and nodded. "Y-Yes Sir"

With A slight pause, Optimus went on his way with Jolt. Snow-Lilly watched him go, then smiled and waved at Jolt, who waved back as he went.

'You guys had yourselves an adventure the other week didn't you?' Incinerator asked, looking up at his partner's sister. Snow-Lilly smiled at him and took him into her hands. "Pretty much. He's a sweetie." The femme continued on her way, unaware that on the other side of the circle, Hotshot, Smokescreen and Blurr were following the prints made by herself and Optimus.

"Well this is good…" Hotshot muttered as he walked. "Sparkplug found the prints, but no sign of the makers…"

"Maybe they're over this way" Smokescreen said, looking over to the side. "I'm going to check it out."

"Alright, take Blurr with yah. If I know Optimus, he's good at ambushes." Hotshot smiled. "Try not to get in TOO much trouble."

"VERY funny" Blurr muttered, sarcastically as he followed Smokescreen.

Hotshot grinned and continued around the circle.

***H***

"Oh THIS is too funny!"

"Hotshot and Snow-Lilly have no idea that they're playing ring-around-the-rosy with each other"

Fred looked up at the screen and grinned. "You think I could warn Snow-Lilly so she could get a heads up?"

Red-Alert glanced over at the larger boy. "That would be cheating, Fred"

"Yeah—well ladies should get a handicap" Fred blushed lightly.

Red-Alert shook his head lightly at the infatuation. "I know you're trying to help, Fred, but I don't even think She'd enjoy you thinking like that."

"What's the matter with a crush?" Fred frowned. "Sheesh! It's like nobody's ever had one but me"

Red-Alert paused. "Actually that's not what I'm talking about-"

"Red-Alert? What's that shadow over there?" Alexis interrupted, pointing at the picture that Laser-Beak was transferring.

The group looked to the screen, then Red-Alert frowned, concentration coming to the veteran. He zoomed in and cleared the picture…

"Razor-Wind!"

***D***

Razor-Wind was behind a large sheet of ice, grinning as he saw Optimus go by, then looked over to the other side where Hotshot and Snow-Lilly were still going in circles. The sleek mech smirked and aimed his blaster at Hotshot as he passed by…the mech let out a slow smile…shooting the young mech in the spark would be a waste of…entertainment…

So instead, Razor-Wind aimed upwards, then shot above the Autobot…

Hotshot gasped and turned as chunks of ice and snow began to fall. Quickly, the Autobot ducked out of the way as the avalanche came down.

Razor-Wind chuckled, then looked up, something catching his optic…something was flying around in the sky…frowning, the mech aimed and shot…

…Sending Laser-Beak to the ground sparking electricity.

Razor-Wind took a few steps up, looking down at the very small piece of wires and metal…raised his foot…

And the sound of a loud crunch in the snow filled the ravine…

***A***

Hotshot groaned and looked around, wondering what exactly happened. He quickly got his weapon out, looking around. "Hey! Whoever just shot that, your weapon is WAY too high!" he barked. "I almost got buried in the snow with-" Hotshot paused and looked around. "…Orko?"

He looked around…where was Orko? Quickly getting up he looked around again, franticly. "Orko!...buddy where are you?"

…

"Hotshot?"

The Yellow mech turned around. Snow-Lilly rounded a corner and looked surprised, then backed away slightly. "Was that you sho-"

"Snow-Lilly! Was that you, shooting?" Hotshot asked, taking a few steps up. "Optimus said that we're supposed to have our weapons on low!"

Snow-Lilly winced and took a step back. "But- But it wasn't me! I thought it was you!"

"huh?" Hotshot paused, looking stumped. "But I didn't-"

The two Autobots looked down as Orko popped his head out of the snow that had covered him, and struggled to get out. Hotshot winced and went to Orko's aide, kneeling and helping the Minicon Commander get snow off. Snow-Lilly went beside him and did the same, Incinerator also giving a hand. After a while, Orko was able to get out and dusted himself off, looking over to his original partner.

'What's with the snow bath?'

"But it wasn't me" Snow-Lilly replied, looking as though she had been accused of a crime. "I seriously thought that Hotshot did it."

Hotshot looked around, confused. "Snow- is Optimus or Scavenger around?"

"I'm not sure" The femme looked around. "I know it's an exercise, but this is weird…" The femme looked to Orko and kneeled down. "Are you alright, Orko?"

'I'll recover' Orko said, rubbing his helmet slightly to get snow out of the corners of his helmet.

"huh?" Hotshot paused as he noticed something- wait what-. Not too far away he noticed a figure aiming at them…! And it was NO Autobot! "SNOW! GET DOWN!" Hotshot yelled, quickly pushing Snow-Lilly down into the snow. Hotshot stood over her and wiped out his gun, quick to put it to maximum power.

Razor-Wind came out of the wind, smirking. He had his arms crossed and he seemed awfully relaxed. "What's the matter, rookie? Don't want me crashing yer party?" The Decepticon shrugged. "You really oughta make more invitations for us party animals."

Hotshot growled and pulled the trigger, shooting at the Decepticon numerous times. Razor-Wind was quick, however; quickly dodging the rookie's shots. "Hold still you jerk!"

Snow-Lilly sat up and winced. She quickly looked to Orko and Incinerator firmly. "Guys, go get to shelter! I'm going to help Hotshot!"

Orko paused and turned, frowning. 'You're not going to actually-'

"Go-go" Snow-Lilly stood and looked over, giving a hesitant grimace…She remembered Razor-Wind…But she was NOT going to lose another dear one to his hands…Without a second glance, Snow-Lilly left Orko and got her blaster out and shot at the Decepticon as well.

Orko's optics narrowed, and took a few steps up, glancing back at Incinerator. 'Go find your partner and get the other Autobots.'

'But she said-'

'I do NOT take orders from Autobots.' Orko motioned. 'go!'

Without more question, Incinerator did as told, quick to try and find Blurr.

Razor-Wind was having a blast, dodging the Autobot's shots and throwing shots of his own at the duo.

"How fun" the Decepticon taunted. "You almost remind me of when I used to be a rookie at Iacon" Smirking, the Decepticon jumped to the side and took out his blades. "Let's see if either of you have learned anything that professor Razor-Wind has taught you."

Hotshot winced and took a step back, growling. He viewed those stupid blades as the biggest threat since they could immobilize any Cybertronian…Hotshot glanced to the side to his comrade, then looked back at Razor-Wind, who was more than ready for more.

After a tense moment, Razor-Wind quickly ran at them, making the two Autobots split. Hotshot tried to get behind the sharp Decepticon, but Razor-Wind glanced behind him and quickly swung one of his blades at the young mech.

Barely missing the blades, the yellow mech took a lot of steps back, trying to figure out a way to get an advantage over this guy…

Snow-Lilly frowned and transformed into her car mode, quickly spinning and throwing snow onto Razor-Wind's face. Once he was blinded, the femme transformed back into robot mode and quickly made a dash for the Decepticon.

However, Razor-Wind quickly wiped off the snow off his face and reached out quickly as the purple femme closed in on him. He grabbed her throat and lifted her up a few feet up, smirking. "So, you're still wanting to dance, are you, princess?" He asked smoothly, clenching his hand that held the femme's neck.

"Get your hands OFF her!" Hotshot snarled, swiping his gun out and firing rapidly. Razor-Wind stood still for a moment, and smirked.

"You know Iacon always had spunky rookies…" Quickly, he dropped Snow-Lilly and turned, kicking the gun out of Hotshot's hand and quickly resting a blade on the yellow mech's chest. "Of course…I was a whole lot more useful"

Hotshot stood still and shuddered angrily as Razor-Wind slowly cut his armor tauntingly. The Decepticon's narrowed optics reflected disdain, pleasure, and evil… Razor-Wind blinked for a moment, as a temporary wave of confusion hit him. This scene was somewhat familiar...as though he had lived it before…Oh…That's right…

…

"Powerlink!"

Hotshot and Razor-Wind both paused and looked to the side where Snow-Lilly stood, optics narrowed, with an energon bow in her hands, a stream of energy forming. Quickly, she let the energy go, which formed into an arrow and hit Razor-Wind square in the shoulder.

Letting out a cry of pain, the Decepticon backed away from Hotshot, holding his shoulder, as his whole armor began to spark and surge. A nasty scowl coming to his face, the Decepticon took out his blades. "You little twit!" he snarled. "I'm going to cut out your spark the same way I cut out your brothers!"

"Not while I'm around!" Hotshot quickly got his blaster once again and pointed it at Razor-Wind's face. Wincing, The Decepticon felt another shock in his system due to that stupid arrow…The sharp Decepticon frowned. "Do you REALLY think a rookie can defeat an Elite?" He growled, getting ready to strike once more.

"Probably not, but these Rookies are not alone" A new voice growled.

Razor-Wind paused and gasped at the sight… Smokescreen and Scavenger were power linked and aiming at him, merciless glares on their faces. On the other side, Blurr stood, aiming his gun; also power linked with Incinerator, visor dark and ready to attack.

In the middle stood Super Optimus, optics murderously angry, and heavy blaster aimed at Razor-Wind…

Suddenly the Decepticon knew that this was one that he couldn't win…Quickly, Razor-Wind hit Hotshot away and took a few steps back, then hastily warped away.

A tense moment passed and the Autobots stood down, still shaken by the sudden flow of movements…

Snow-Lilly fell to her knees and panted as Orko dethatched from her, and landed on the snow, a nasty scowl on his face at the now empty space that Razor-Wind had occupied. Snow-Lilly shuddered and looked at her hands, a small wonder of how in the sam-hill did she just do what she did?

"Hotshot, Snow-Lilly, Are you both alright?" Optimus asked, walking up to his soldiers, concern in his voice. Hotshot turned around and rubbed his head. "A bit shaken…What exactly was Razor-Wind DOING here? There's no Minicon, is there?"

"I highly doubt it" Scavenger said, scanning the area. "There aren't any other Decepticons in this area"

"Then what was he DOING here?" Blurr snarled, hopping off the ledge that he stood on.

"I'm not sure, Blurr" Scavenger muttered, looking over at the sniper. "We'll have to discuss this back at the base…"

Smokescreen looked up as he helped Snow-Lilly to her feet and made sure she was steadily against him, before looking to the others. "Too bad he had to crash the party…I was looking forward to kicking your butt, Scavenger"

The green veteran sent the elder mech a smirk at his attempt to lighten the mood. "Oh is that so?"

"Autobots, let's get back to base. We'll have to call it a morning…" Optimus looked around at his troops. There was a slight air of disappointment, but relief that everyone was alright.

Snow-Lilly looked up and stood up, patting Smokescreen, giving him a small 'thank you', and looked over at Hotshot. "Hey-..um…thanks for saving me today"

Hotshot looked over to the purple femme and gave a small smile. "Hey, no problem, Snow. I'm just glad you're alright"

Snow-Lilly gave him a surprised look for a moment, and then smiled. "Either way, thank you Hotshot…" The femme took a step up, leaned up and kissed Hotshot's cheek. Hotshot paused and his optics went wide, a light blush coming to his face. The Yellow bot shuffled lightly. "H-hey…no big deal"

That much done Snow-Lilly smiled and turned, slowly heading over towards Blurr, who gave a rough look at Hotshot, then put a tentative arm over his sister to steady her. "Let's get back to base" Blurr said, looking over at Optimus with slight demand in his optics. The leader nodded at Blurr and started setting the co-ordinance in his gauntlet for the warp gate.

Smokescreen blinked at waved a hand over Hotshot's optics. "Hey…Hotshot? Anyone home?"

"huh?" Hotshot quickly snapped out of it and looked to the elder orange bot. "What?"

Smokescreen let a slow grin come to his face. "Oh…just wanted to know if you'd like to join us back at base"

Hotshot flushed and cleared his throat. "Ye-yeah. Fine- That's fine"

Smokescreen let a laugh escape him, Hotshot flailing and demanding him to tell him what was so funny…

Orko gave a face at the scene and leaned back, looking to the side…why'd he do that?...He just helped save the Autobots… A scowl came to the mechs face…before he softened slightly…he was trying to trust them…but he wanted to make an exception…

He just didn't want to trust them…even if he did promise…huh?

Orko paused and looked up, seeing something shining in the snow…glancing back, the Minicon Commander walked over to whatever was catching his optics…as he approached, a shocked face made its way to the Minicon. Orko let out a sigh, before gathering the broken pieces and putting them into his subspace…

The kids were not going to like this…

***D***

Razor-Wind arrived at the Decepticon base and scowled as he returned, fist clenched around his blade. What just HAPPENED back there? Why didn't he just go ahead and kill them? In early days, he would have gone ahead and took care of business…but no, he had to toy around with them.

The murderer frowned and stomped into the base, optics on the ground. Humph, not only was his toy gone, but it appeared that also his sense of battle was gone as well…This made him disappointed. Why couldn't he just finish them off? They weren't all that strong-…well the rookies weren't.

Razor-Wind paused his walk as he noticed a loud sound coming from the other room. The sharp mech frowned and took a few steps in and looked around…Cyclonus was lying on his back, snoring like it was nobody's business, and a long trail of drool was hanging out of the side of his mouth.

Razor-Wind watched the Decepticon sleep for a while, then looked to the side, with a scoff. "So this is what we all admired…what a waste of sparks…" The sharp Decepticon grumbled, turning and walking out.

"Hey! Razor-Wind!"

The said mech paused and looked behind him, seeing Demolisher walking up, then stopping a few yards away. "Who do think you are warping around without permission? Just because your-" Demolisher suddenly shut up when the sharp mech drew a blade quick as lightning and rested the tip of the blade on Demolisher's throat.

"I'm in a BAD mood…understand?" He growled. After he had his moment, he lowered his blade. "Besides, there's nothing going on. Just thought I'd have a little fun" He frowned, then looked to the side, then looked back at Demolisher. "But I think I'm starting to understand why you jerks are losing."

Demolisher finally relaxed when Razor-Wind's blade went away from him, then he frowned at the other mech. "What do you mean? I don't see YOU doing any better."

Razor-Wind gave a slight smirk. "Oh is that so?" His smirk vanished into a scowl. "Maybe it's about time I stopped playing and started getting down to business." He turned and looked to the side. "I think it's about time the Decepticons had a victory." His optics narrowed lightly. "And I'm going to find out just how powerful these 'Minicons' can be…"

***A***

"Laser-Beak!" Alexis held the pile of twisted metal in her hands, looking hopelessly down at the fallen Autobot. This was the last thing she had expected that would result from an exercise mission…now they lost a valuable team member…not that he actually fought, but…

"Alexis…I'm not sure I can repair him" Red-Alert said sorrowfully, looking down at the distraught girl. He knelt down to make sure she was alright. The girl really didn't pay that much attention…she was sure he would say that…Red-Alert glanced to Smokescreen, who gave a sympathetic look…he wasn't really too sure what to do…

"…It's…not your fault, Red-Alert" The girl mumbled softly.

Rad winced as the girl gently set the pieces of metal back on the small table and she gave a heavy sigh. Rad gently put a hand on her back and looked over at Red-Alert. "Are you sure? Do you thing that one of the Minicons could, I dunno, lend a hand?"

"I wish it was that simple, kids, but the only Minicons that could possibly help out would be either Thunderbolt or a Minicon that we have not yet revived" He looked down and very gently set a finger on Alexis' back. "Laser-Beak is very…complicated"

Orko looked over from where he stood, watching the conversation unfold…he sighed and looked back down, feeling a bit sorry for the girl…even if it wasn't extremely intelligent…it was still a friend to those kids.

"…I understand…" Alexis muttered, turning and heading out the door, wiping her eyes. Smokescreen melted sadly. "Alexis?..." It really didn't do any good. Alexis left the room, heading for the human quarters.

Red-Alert stood up and looked back down to the pile of scrap below him. Rad was looking over the pieces and was trying to see if he could do something…but what he tried to do just ended up falling back onto the table.

"I'm sorry, Rad…I'm afraid that's the end of him…" The veteran said, sadly, but affectionately watching.

"Alexis is right, it's not your fault, Red-Alert" Rad looked up, hopelessly. He then looked over to Orko, who was leaning against a nearby piece of machinery, looking down and flexing his wings slightly. He had a disappointed look on his face, as though the reaction of the kids had tore him up…

"Thanks Orko…" Rad finally said, earning the Minicon Commander's attention. The boy continued, "For at least bringing him back so he could have…some dignity…"

Orko looked at the boy for a moment, then gave a slight nod to the boy, before the human gave a sad smile towards the two Autobots. He then turned and departed, going to find Alexis.

Smokescreen sighed and looked to Red-Alert. "It tears my spark seeing this…" he muttered. "I don't like seeing the kids so distraught."

"Me neither…" Red-Alert agreed, looking down to the table then heading for the control room. Smokescreen started to follow, then turned, seeing Orko still leaning against the machinery, a frown on his face.

"Orko?"

'Leave me alone…I gotta think.' The Minicon replied. The orange Autobot watched the Minicon Commander, then turned and left.

Orko kept his quiet demeanor for a small while, before he got up and took a few steps up to the table, glancing down at the pieces.

'It's hilarious that the one thing that I've been programmed for, I hate to do…' He muttered, touching one of the pieces. Orko narrowed his optics and piddled with the piece. 'I think it's about time for me to give Double-face a piece of my mind…'

As Orko lamented, he heard a noise in the hall, and he frowned slightly. Putting the pieces of Laser-Beak once again in his sub space, he walked to the door and looked out. Optimus was coming this way…quickly the Minicon looked around and then pressed himself against the wall as Optimus turned and walked into the room. As he passed by, Orko scooted his way out and quickened his pace down the hall.

Glancing at his gauntlet, the Minicon commander reasoned his chances…he would have to go ahead and dare to be stupid…

The Minicon walked down the corridor, optics narrowed as he messed with his gauntlet. Looking around, he went into the room he shared with Snow-Lilly and made sure she wasn't in. Locking the door, he pressed a button on his gauntlet and frowned. 'Orkono to Sideways.' He growled into his com-link. 'Pick up, you double-face.' There was nothing but static for a while…

"Orkono…what a _pleasant_ surprise" Sideways chuckled lowly. "What's the matter? You sound distraught."

'Oh hardy har' Orko snarled. 'I'm only calling to let you know that I KNOW what you ended up doing when it came to the separation…I always knew I hated you from the first time I saw you, but this just beats it…I LOATH you'

"The feeling's mutual" Sideways replied, the sound of his voice pleasant. It then got harsh quickly. "You're really pushing it yourself."

'Don't start on me, you two-headed jerk. When I get my partner, we're going to finally get the Minicons together and put an end to you and that horn-headed griks plate!'

"You talk tough, Orkono. But I know you're getting attached. That was your downfall then, and it shall be so again." With that, Sideways cut the line, leaving Orko seething at nothing. The Minicon growled and shut off his own com-link, then clenched his fists. So that's how it's going to be…

Fine, then let round two begin…


End file.
